“Marcel Farago, 92, a Philadelphia Orchestra cellist from 1955 to 1994, died Friday, April 8, in Cherry Hill,” writes David Patrick Stearns in Tuesday’s (4/12) Philadelphia Inquirer. “Born in Romania, he was also a composer of numerous works, several of which were performed by the orchestra. Mr. Farago reportedly suffered from cancer but chose not to discuss it, and gave an interview packed with keen observations and lively wit only weeks before his death…. Educated at the Royal Academy of Music in Bucharest, he was also a student of three of the 20th century’s great cellists: Gaspar Cassado in Siena, Italy, and Pierre Fournier and Paul Tortelier at the Paris Conservatory…. During World War II … he lived in hiding in Budapest, sheltered by his future wife, Adele, whom he married in 1950. By the time Mr. Farago was hired by Eugene Ormandy in Philadelphia in 1955, he was also a good pianist and conductor, and [had] worked not just in postwar Budapest, but also with the Municipal Orchestra of Cape Town, South Africa, and the Symphony Orchestra of Porto Alegre, Brazil…. A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14 … at the Uxbridge Club House in Cherry Hill.”
Posted April 13, 2016
