Henri Temianka Robert Maas Gustave Rosseels Robert Courte Charles Libove Stefan Krayk Charles Foidart David Schwartz Albert Gillis Adolphe Frezin Lucien Laporte Gábor Rejtő Victor Gottlieb Edgar Lustgarten
The Paganini Quartet (Henri Temianka, Gustave Rosseels, Charles Foidart, Lucien Laporte) plays the finale of Beethoven'sString Quartet No. 4, 1956.A program from the first concert of the Paganini Quartet at the Library of Congress in 1946. The first three string quartets by Beethoven were performed.
The Paganini Quartet was an American string quartet founded by cellist Robert Maas and violinist Henri Temianka in 1946.[1][2] The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737), had once been owned by the great Italian violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840).
Origins
In 1945, Maas, who had been with the Pro Arte Quartet until early in World War II and was interested in forming a new string quartet, secured a sponsorship from Anna Clark, the widow of copper millionaire William A. Clark.[3]
Maas happened upon four Paganini Strads at the shop of Emil Herrmann in New York, and mentioned them to Mrs. Clark, who promptly purchased the instruments for the quartet's use.
Meanwhile, another patron of chamber music, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, had sponsored violinist Henri Temianka's performance of the Beethoven violin sonata cycle at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., with pianist Leonard Shure, and she also expressed interest in the project.
Gustave Rosseels, violin, and Robert Courte, viola, immediately accepted invitations to complete the ensemble. As detailed by authors Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. in Empty Mansions, the story of the Clark family, the quartet often performed and practiced at the Clark home in Santa Barbara, Bellosguardo.[4]
In 1946–47, the four played all the Beethoven string quartets at the Library of Congress; people began lining up at 5:00 a.m. to purchase tickets for the series, which was sold out in an hour. A recording contract with RCA Victor followed, and their rendition of the three Beethoven Opus 59 "Rasumovsky" quartets won the industry award for best recording in 1947.
The Quartet made its home in Los Angeles, California. During rehearsals, they usually spoke French. The story of how the Paganini Quartet came into being is told in Henri Temianka's book Facing the Music.[5]
Henri Temianka was widely known as a concert violinist and conductor, author, and educator. He was the only constant member of the Paganini Quartet throughout its existence.
Gustave Rosseels was the original second violinist. Later, he was replaced by Charles Libove (who subsequently became first violinist with the Beaux-Arts Quartet), and then Stefan Krayk.
Robert Courte, who had been a professor of the viola at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, was the original violist. He was later replaced by Charles Foidart, and then David Schwartz and Albert Gillis, respectively.
Robert Maas, the quartet's original cellist, died suddenly in 1948. He was replaced by Adolphe Frezin, and later by Lucien Laporte, who had been first cellist for the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch, and the NBC Symphony. Gábor Rejtő, Victor Gottlieb, and Edgar Lustgarten also filled in at various times.
Instruments
The four Strads were among the most cherished possessions of the famed musician Niccolo Paganini. After their purchase by Mrs. Clark, further adjustments were made to the instruments by the craftsman Simone Fernando Sacconi.
The provenance of the instruments is as follows:
[6]
The first violin, the "Comte Cozio di Salabue," was made by Stradivari in 1727 and was played by Paganini himself, after he acquired it from Count Cozio de Salabue in 1817.
The second violin, the "Desaint," was made by Stradivari in 1680. It is an example of Stradivari’s early Amatise style, and is profiled in the book Stradivari’s Genius by Toby Faber.[7]
The viola, the "Mendelssohn," was made in 1731, when Stradivari was 86 years old. It is one of fewer than a dozen surviving Strad violas, and was the instrument that inspired Paganini to commission Hector Berlioz to write his symphonic poem "Harold in Italy".
The cello is the “Ladenburg” of 1736. It was owned by the Mendelssohn family before coming into Paganini’s possession.
When the Paganini Quartet disbanded in 1966, the four Strads reverted to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In accordance with Mrs. Clark's will, they were never to be separated. Beginning in 1992, they were loaned to the Cleveland String Quartet. Since 1994, they have been owned by the Nippon Music Foundation, and were played by the Tokyo String Quartet until the quartet disbanded in 2013. The four instruments were then played by the Hagen Quartet,[8] and then by the Quartetto di Cremona. In 2019, they were loaned to the Kuss Quartet to record the entire cycle of Beethoven Quartets live at Suntory Hall, Tokyo.
Repertoire
As per the brochure published by F.C Schang 3rd c. 1948, the Quartet’s repertoire included the following pieces at that time:
Schubert—Opus 29 in A minor; Quartet no. 14, Opus 125 no. 1 (“Death and the Maiden”)
Schumann—3 Quartets Opus 41
Shostakovich—Quartet no. 1
Stravinsky—Concertino, Three Pieces
Toch—Opus 18
Verdi—Quartet in e minor
Vivaldi—L’Estro Armonico (arr. string quartet)
Reviews
Harold C. Schonberg wrote about the Paganini Quartet's Beethoven recordings in "The Guide to Long-Playing Records: Chamber and Solo Instrument Music" in 1955: "One thing this quartet does have, and that is tone... it never lost its juicy sound. The performances always have taste..."[9]
Alfred Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “Perhaps never before has one heard a string quartet with so rich, mellow and superbly polished a tone.”
In Paris, L’Illustration wrote, “The Paganini Quartet thrilled Paris.”[10]
Discography
The Paganini Quartet recorded copiously on 33, 45 and 78 rpm format records, as well as a few reel-to-reel tape releases. A summary of these in-studio recordings includes, by label:
RCA Victor:
Beethoven Quartets nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16 (these were remastered and reissued on CDs in 2012 by United Archives)
Debussy Quartet in G minor.
Fauré Piano Quartet no. 1 (with Artur Rubinstein)
Selected movements from quartets by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák
Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat (with Artur Rubinstein)
^Dedman, Bill; Newell, Paul Clark (2013). Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune. Ballantine Books. p. 150-153.
^Facing the Music, David McKay Company, Inc., New York, 1973, by Henri Temianka.
^“The Paganini Quartet,” brochure, Atlanta Printing Co., New York, N.Y., c. 1948, by F.C. Schang 3rd.
^Stradivari’s Genius, Random House, New York, 2004, by Toby Faber.
