Playing style Starker's playing style was intense and involved great technical mastery. According to some of his students, his technique revolved around long, legato notes, with very little shifting noise from his left hand, resulting in smooth, pure tones, "each note sounding like a jewel." Starker himself described his sound as "centered" and "focused." He was known for his ability to produce an extremely wide range of sounds and tone shading. He eschewed the wide vibrato favored by some of his peers—which he viewed as a cover for poor intonation—and was known for his patrician stage presence, preferring to let the music do the emoting. He quoted his long-time friend and colleague, György Sebők, who said, "Create excitement. Don't get excited." Personal habits Starker was a lifelong smoker with a sixty-cigarette-per-day habit. He also drank copious amounts of scotch whiskey. He once refused to perform a concert in Columbia, South Carolina, that he was supposed to play because he was not allowed to smoke his "pre-concert cigarette" backstage. Bibliography References Further reading The World of Music According to Starker, Janos Starker, Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana University Press (2004). . The Roll Call of the Blessed Ones. Text by Janos Starker. Drawings by Jorge Sicre., Occidental Press, Washington D.C. (1985). . Von Budapest nach Bloomington. Janos Starker und die ungarische Cello-Tradition., Anna Dalos, Melinda Berlasz, Janos Starker, Janos Breuer, and Peter B. Jacobi, Kronberg Academy Verlag, Kronberg/Taunus (1999). (in German and English) Janos Starker. "King of Cellists". The Making of an Artist, Joyce Geeting, Chamber Music Plus Publishing, Los Angeles (2008). . Artists as Professors. Conversations with Musicians, Painters, Sculptors, Morris Risenhoover and Robert T. Backburn, pp. 171–185 are an interview with Janos Starker. Urbana, University of Illinois Press (1976). . External links Biographies, audio clips "Remembering János Starker," From the Archives, Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Rosenthal Archives, May 1, 2013 János Starker interview by Bruce Duffie, November 24, 1987 2-hour audio interview of Mr. Starker by Louise Dubin, one of his students Interview with János starker in Retkes Attila: Zenélő ezredkezdet (Válogatott interjúk, 2000–2003), Nap Kiadó, 2004 1924 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Hungarian people Grammy Award winners Jewish classical musicians Hungarian music educators Hungarian classical cellists Cello pedagogues Hungarian emigrants to the United States Jacobs School of Music faculty Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Hungarian Jews Hungarian people of Polish descent Hungarian people of Ukrainian descent Musicians from