Unknown author · Public domain

A cellist who fled Soviet Russia and became principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler before building a second career in America, heading the cello departments at the Curtis Institute and later USC, which named its cello chair after him. He performed chamber music with Jascha Heifetz and Arthur Rubinstein in a trio nicknamed the "Million Dollar Trio," and composers including Prokofiev, Hindemith, and Stravinsky wrote pieces specifically for his playing, prized for its intense vibrato and technical command.