Peled to play Elgar's concerto on famed Casals cello- Tucson Symphony

“When you play such a cello and you know how not to disturb it, it allows you to find your own voice and your own soul can come out better and the public will appreciate it much more. …. It brings the performer to a deeper place,” he said.

Istomin never placed a time limit on the loan. Peled said he figures he will have it for couple more years; he has several concerts on the books all centered on the Casals cello, including a tribute recital for Istomin on Nov. 2 in Washington, D.C.

“There will be an end to it, and I kind of feel that there should be,” Peled said. “My job is … to promote (Casals’) legacy and to make sure that nobody forgets about it. A lot of young students and young audiences don’t even know who Casals was and what he represented. I feel sort of an ambassador, really, and I know there will be a day when somebody else will have to carry on that mission.”