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Label/No. & Format United Archives NUA11 5CD
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Release Date: Aug. 2012


* Beethoven: The Great String Quartets
Paganini Quartet (rec. 1947 and 1953)

Violin I: Henri Temianka
Violin II: Gustave Rosseels
Viola: Robert Courte (Quartets Nos. 4,5,7,8,9,16)
Viola: Charles Foidart (Quartets Nos. 1,2,10,14,15)
Cello: Robert Maas (Quartets Nos. 7,8,9,16)
Cello: Adolphe Frezin (Quartets Nos. 1,2,4,5,10,14,15)

For the first time, this set gathers the Beethoven recordings released by the Paganini Quartet between 1947 and 1953.
This studio archive is unique, a veritable missing-link between the Bush, Calvet, Lerner, Budapest Quartets
and the post-war American ensemble, e.g. the Juilliard Quartet, in the prodigious history of the interpretation
of this unmatched monument to chamber music. Why Paganini ?
Because in 1946, Emil Herrmann, the well-known New York violin maker, told the cellist Robert Maas
that he had in his possession a Stradivari quartet set, once having belonged to Paganini.
After 25 years of research, the four instruments were finally re-united having been dispersed for over a century.
Fascinated by this discovery, a wealthy music lover, Mrs. William Andrews Clark immediately acquired
the four instruments and the quartet naturally adopted the name of its prestigious parentage.
Henri Temianka, lead violin, was allocated a 1727 violin, The Cozio Count of Salabue from the nobleman from whom
Paganini had obtained it in 1816 and it had become one of his concert instruments.
The second violin received a 1680 instrument, the Desaint, built in the typical manner of the Stradivari early years,
influenced by Amati.
The viola, the Mendelssohn, dated 1731, had prompted Paganini to commission Hector Berlioz¡¯s Harold in Italy.
The cello, the Ladenburg, was made by Stradivari in 1736 when he was 93 years old
and just before his death.

No. Composer Works Performance Information
1 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 1 in F major, Op. 18 No. 1 Paganini Quartet
2 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 2 in G major, Op. 18 No. 2 "Compliments" Paganini Quartet
3 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18 No. 4 Paganini Quartet
4 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 5 in A major, Op. 18 No. 5 Paganini Quartet
5 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 7 in F major, Op. 59 No. 1 "Rasumovsky 1" Paganini Quartet
6 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2 "Rasumovsky 2" Paganini Quartet
7 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 9 in C major, Op. 59 No. 3 "Rasumovsky 3" Paganini Quartet
8 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 10 in E flat major, Op. 74 "Harp" Paganini Quartet
9 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131 Paganini Quartet
10 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 Paganini Quartet
11 Beethoven, Ludwig Van Quartet for Strings No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 Paganini Quartet
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