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The brooding heavy-lidded Bach …

… of János Starker’s cello.

Starker has died, at age 88.

Starker was known for being tough on his students. Former IU basketball coach Bobby Knight, himself known for the demands he placed on his players, asked Starker to come speak to his team.

Afterward one of the players came up to Starker and asked if he could tell Starker a joke.

“Mr Starker there was a car accident and three cellists died and they all tried to get to Heaven,” the student said. He then goes on to explain the joke. St. Peter asks the first two with whom they studied. They answer they studied with Mstislav Rostropovich and Leonard Rosen. St. Peter tells both of them they have to go to Hell.

The third one tells St. Peter he studied with Starker. Then comes the punch line.

“St. Peter says ‘You may come in. You already went through Hell.’”

Margaret Soltan, April 28, 2013 12:22PM
Posted in: professors

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One Response to “The brooding heavy-lidded Bach …”

  1. Bill Gleason Says:

    I love it.

    Slava was better…

    But Starker was close second.

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