Julian Lloyd Webber

IS CREATIVITY something we learn, or is it there from the start, embedded deep in our genes? Julian Lloyd Webber - in fact, the entire Lloyd Webber clan - presents persuasive evidence that it could well be the latter.

Granted, growing up in a music-obsessed family - composer father, piano teacher mother, world famous musical-writing brother - can't have failed to nudge the cellist towards his current occupation.

But surely the quality of his playing - the virtuoso brilliance that helped win him a classical Brit for his Elgar's Cello Concerto - is as much to do with nature as nurture?

Whatever the explanation, his remarkable talents continue to make him one of the biggest attractions on the classical circuit.

At Southampton's Turner Sims Concert Hall this week, accompanied by pianist Rebecca Woolcock, Julian plays a mix of classical favourites and less familiar pieces - including his own composition, Jackie's Song, and a rare cello piece by his father, William Lloyd Webber.

"He didn't write many cello pieces, but when I play them, I don't really have to think about interpreting them. They're in the blood," he explains.

Julian and the cello have had a near-lifelong relationship. Undaunted by its size, he first took up the hefty instrument at the age of four.

"I didn't take it seriously but I did

enjoy playing it. Then when I was 13 lots of things happened and I decided this

was what I wanted to do," says the classical star.

"I love the sound of the cello. It's a very versatile instrument and I try to show that off in my recitals."

Not surprisingly, playing the generously proportioned instrument presents something of a physical challenge too.

"It's a very physically demanding instrument from a scraping point of view. You have to play every day. If you don't you regret it.

"There have been a couple of times when I've strained my hand, but thankfully it doesn't happen very often."

Julian grew up, surrounded by music, in a rambling, run-down Victorian block of flats.

"It was very noisy, a crazy place," he remembers. "There were people in and out all the time. John Lill, the pianist, lived with us and he was practising all the time. Tim Rice was there. It was very bohemian.

"Andrew and I had separate bedrooms but there was a sitting room which people shared and there was huge competition as to who would be playing in there."

Since starting his recording career at 23 in the early 70s, Julian has worked with some of the biggest names in music, from Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grappelli to Phil Collins

and Elton John.

It was in defence of one of his favourite musicians, the late cellist Jacqueline du Pre, that he wrote Jackie's Song, a highly personal piece he will be playing at the Turner Sims.

"It was a protest against the film Hilary and Jackie. I saw Jacqueline play and I knew her quite well at the end of her life and she was nothing like they portrayed her in the film.

"Even when she was very ill she was smiling and full of fun, but they showed her as a miserable cow."

For the last 20 years Julian has enjoyed a fruitful recording partnership with Philips/Universal Classics, celebrated last September with the release of the 'greatest hits' compilation Made in England.

"I've been blessed in many ways," he reflects. "I've had opportunities to do things that I only ever dreamed of doing. Recording the Elgar Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin was one of the highlights, because of the whole historic link between Menuhin and

the cello."

Julian's interpretation was hailed by BBC Music Magazine as the finest ever version of the Concerto.

In addition to the classical

standards, Julian is a great champion of modern music and shortly begins recording on a new composition by Philip Glass.

"He wrote it for me in 2001 and it's taken all this time to sort out the recording," explains Julian.

"I've never been content just to play the standards, as much as I like them. I've always wanted to try and broaden the spectrum.

"There's a much healthier scene for contemporary classical music at the moment, in that composers do seem to be able to write in whatever style they want to."

Every unheard-of new composer needs a champion, of course, and Julian is the sympathetic choice for many hopefuls.

"Occasionally something comes along which is way above the norm and then I'm interested in doing it," he says.

"I got sent a piece by a composer I'd never heard of from Belgium. It was sitting around on a cassette in my kitchen for weeks and this guy kept ringing and saying had I listened to it.

"So I put it on and it was a ten-minute piece for cello and orchestra and it was fantastic."

When Pop Idol goes classical, keep your fingers crossed that Julian's on the judging panel.

Julian Lloyd Webber is at the Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton on 22nd January at 8pm. Tickets cost from £10. Box office: 023 8059 5151.