Orlando Cole - The Curtis Quartet

The Curtis Quartet

The Curtis Quartet was a pioneer in its time, and earned great acclaim: as the foremost string quartet in America during the prewar years; the first touring quartet to be trained entirely in the United States; and as the first American quartet to tour Europe, including a command performance before Mary of Teck, Queen Consort of George V of the United Kingdom. The ensemble undertook two extensive and triumphant tours of the United Kingdom and the European continent during the seasons 1936-37 and 1937–38, and were scheduled to continue the same until the outbreak of World War II. At a time when gramophone recordings were still a rarity and chamber music had not yet taken hold in the United States, the Curtis Quartet served as ambassadors, giving over 5000 concerts in its career and often presenting the first quartet performances heard by the communities in which they played. Before disbanding in 1981 due to the death of Max Aronoff, the founding nucleus of Brodsky, Aronoff, and Cole remained intact. The quartet had achieved some initial success as students in the late 1920s, but on committing to it, they engaged Charles Jaffe as their second violinist; it was with him that they achieved many of the aforementioned milestones. Following Jaffe's departure, the second violin position was held in turn by Louis Berman, Enrique Serratos, Mehli Mehta, Geoffrey Michaels, and finally Yumi Ninomiya Scott.

Of interest as well may be mentioned Cole's primary instrument, the 1739 'Sleeping Beauty' by Domenico Montagnana. The instrument was a gift to him from a wealthy student and friend and was purchased for the then-princely sum of $17,000 in 1952. It was with this instrument that the Curtis Quartet's best known recordings for Westminster Records were made, among them Dvořák's American Quartet and Smetana's Quartet in E Minor From My Life; Mendelssohn quartets, opp. 12 and 44, no. 1; Schumann quartets, op. 41, nos. 1 and 3; Debussy and Ravel quartets; the Franck Piano Quintet; and two works of Ernő Dohnányi, the Quartet in Db-Major, and the Piano Quintet No. 2. In the two works with piano, the Curtis Quartet was joined by their longtime friend and collaborator, the pianist Vladimir 'Billy' Sokoloff.