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Show Music Lovers Hail Coming of Paganini Quartet November 12 Music lovers the city over are anxiously awaiting one of the musical highlights of the year Wednesday evening when the famed Paganini Quartet performs per-forms on the stage at the Granite Gran-ite High School auditorium. The concert will begin at 8:15, Wednesday, Nov. 12. In a single year the Paganini Quartet has swept into America's Amer-ica's musical consciousness and established itself among the concert con-cert headliners. On its first tour in 1946 word of the quartet's incomparable in-comparable interpretations of great chamber music spread before be-fore it, and wherever the ensemble en-semble appeared an eager public pub-lic clamored for tickets. The remarkable union of noted musicians in the Paganini Quartet gave audiences starved for chamber music the greatest works played by masters. Each of the members of the group had carved an international reputation rep-utation on his own; more than that, they had known each other oth-er personally and musically for many years. Rich Musical Backgrounds The Paganini Quartet is composed com-posed of Henri Temianka, first violin; Gustave Rosseels, second violin; Robert Courte, viola; and Robert Maas, cello. Mr. Temianka, Temian-ka, well known in the United States and Europe both as a soloist so-loist and chamber music performer, per-former, spent many years in Belgium Bel-gium where he came to know his three associates, all of whom are of Belgian birth. Robert Maas was also well known to Americans Ameri-cans as a member of the famous original Pro Arte Quartet, while Mr. Rosseels and Mr. Courte were prominent quartettists in countries ' and until recently were on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. The union of these distinguished artists art-ists on these shores after the vicissitudes of war aroused unprecedented un-precedented interest in music circles. Paganini's Instruments The ensemble takes its name from the four unique instruments instru-ments it uses all made by Stradivarius and once owned by Paganini. Scattered after the great virtuoso's death, they were reassembled recently after a century and were especially acquired ac-quired for the quartet by a distinguished dis-tinguished music lover in New York. Mr. Temianka's violin is the very instrument with which Paganini "enthralled his audiences audi-ences and from which he never parted. The violin used by Mc. Rosseels is a perfect example of Stradivarius' early period, while the cello played by Mr. Maap, made by the master the year before be-fore his death, is one of the finest fin-est instruments in existence. Mr. Courte's viola is the famous instrument in-strument for which Berlioz wrote the "Harold in Italy" symphony. sym-phony. "Great," "Illustrious," "an invaluable in-valuable addition to our musical world" so have the critics received re-ceived this group. As Darius Milhaud, France's greatest contemporary con-temporary composer, stated, "The fame of the Paganini Quartet Quar-tet had preceded even its first performance. And when they came and played on their four marvelous Stradivari instruments, instru-ments, it was one of the most thrilling experiences." |