Maria Kliegel, Kristin Merscher

Finding her career expanding quickly after winning the 1981 Concours Rostropovich in Paris, Maria Kliegel achieved celebrity for both her commanding live performances and her extensive discography on the Naxos label. Her repertory is wide and varied, embracing compositions of her own time as well as standard works from the Baroque period forward. She has lived up to Mstislav Rostropovich's assessment: "the best cellist I've heard since Jacqueline du Pré." After undertaking studies with Janos Starker at Indiana University, Kliegel began winning first prizes in several competi...