Description

HUGO KORTSCHAK (GOLDWÖRTH, UPPER AUSTRIA, AUSTRIA, FEBRUARY 28, 1884 – HONOLULU, HAWAII, UNITED STATES, SEPTEMBER 19, 1957)

 

 

 

 

Hugo Kortschak (February 28, 1884 – September 19, 1957) was an Austrian-born American violinist. He was a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1907 to 1914, serving as assistant concertmaster from 1910 until 1914. Kortschak was a founding member of the Berkshire String Quartet and later became Dean of Music at Yale University. His son was the plant physiologist Hugo P. Kortschak.

The Berkshire String Quartet was founded after the music patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge persuaded Kortschak to relocate his ensemble from Chicago to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where its members could devote themselves exclusively to chamber music. In his youth, Kortschak was a member of the Pozniak Trio, founded by the Polish pianist Bronisław Poźniak.

Kortschak owned several fine violins, including:

1914: a Joseph Guarnerius violin, formerly owned by the Crown Treasurer of Spain;

Period of ownership unknown: a Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (c. 1739);

1925–1957: a 1698 Stradivarius violin, previously owned by Joseph Joachim and later by Joan Field.

An influential teacher in Chicago, Kortschak taught violin to Ruth Scott Miller, the first female music critic of the Chicago Tribune, between 1912 and 1915, first in Chicago and later in Berlin. Miller credited Kortschak, along with conductor Frederick Stock, with inspiring her to pursue a career as a concert violinist.

Kortschak also played a key role in organizing the Berkshire Chamber Music Festival, founded by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. The original Berkshire String Quartet disbanded sometime after 1941.

 

 

THADDEUS RICH (INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, MARCH 25, 1885 – CONNECTICUT, HARTFORD, 1969)

 

 

 

 

Thaddeus Rich was an American violinist, conductor, and pedagogue, best known as a longtime concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra during its formative years in the early 20th century.

A child prodigy, Rich appeared as a violin soloist by the age of ten. He pursued advanced musical training in Germany, graduating from the Leipzig Conservatory at the remarkably young age of sixteen. He subsequently continued his violin studies in Berlin with Joseph Joachim, one of the most influential violinists and teachers of the era. While still a teenager, Rich gained professional orchestral experience as a member of both the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Oper des Westens, serving as concertmaster of the latter.

Returning to the United States in 1905, Rich soon joined the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he served as concertmaster for approximately two decades, working under conductors Fritz Scheel and later Leopold Stokowski. During the 1920s, he also acted as assistant conductor to Stokowski, expanding his influence beyond the violin desk into orchestral leadership.

In addition to his orchestral career, Rich was active in chamber music, founding the Rich Quartette in 1908. He later became involved in conducting and musical administration in Philadelphia, leading the Philadelphia Festival Orchestra, conducting the Curtis Institute Orchestra, and directing a W.P.A. orchestra during the 1930s.

A respected educator, Rich taught at Temple University throughout the 1930s and 1940s and served for a time as Dean, contributing significantly to the city’s musical education infrastructure.

Thaddeus Rich died in 1969 in Hartford, Connecticut. Remembered as a leading American orchestral violinist of his generation, he played a central role in shaping the sound and discipline of the Philadelphia Orchestra during its rise to international prominence.

 

 

RAOUL GEORGE VIDAS (IAŞI, ROMANIA, 17 JULY, 1901 – HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 6 OCTOBER, 1978)

 

 

 

 

Well known violinist. Born in 1901 in Iași (Jassy), Romania and died in 1978 in Los Angeles, California. Son of Anne and Rudolphe Vidas. Raoul trained in Paris under Berthelier, who himself was a student of Massart. Raoul was known in france as ‘the grandson of Massart.’

He wrote his first symphony in 1916, a the age of 15 when he was staying at the Chateau of th Du Barry at LouVeeiennes, for which he named the piece. A 5 section piece that is very classical along the lines of Mozart or Hayden. He also published small pieces published by Carl Fischer.

He made his first appearance with orchestra in New York at Carnegie Hall Nov 21, 1918. He played Saint-Sains’s Violin concerto in B minor.

Buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, California

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Hugo Kortschak Humoresque (Dvorak) Justin Ring (piano) Okeh 4833-A E4833A1, 1923

Hugo Kortschak Souvenir (Drdla) Justin Ring (piano) Okeh 4833-B E4833B2, 1923

Hugo Kortschak String Quartet in D major Op.11 (Tchaikovsky) II. Andante cantabile [[heavily abridged] Okeh 1039-A 213 B 1918, New York

Hugo Kortschak String Quartet in g minor Op.27 (Grieg) II. Romanze. Andantino [[heavily abridged] Okeh 1039-B 215 a 1918, New York

Berkshire String Quartet

Hugo Kortschak (violin I)

Sergei Kotlarsky (violin II)

Clarence Evans (viola)

Emmeran Stoeber (cello)

Thaddeus Rich Berceuse (Cradle Song) (Fauré) Justin Ring (piano) Okeh 4015-B 4015 B

Thaddeus Rich Caucasian Sketches Suite No 1 Op 42 (Ippolitov-Ivanov) Ii In The Village The Philadelphia Orchestra Leopold Stokowski Victor 6513

Thaddeus Rich Cavatina (Raff) Okeh 4015-A 4015 A

Thaddeus Rich Danse Macabre Op 40 R 171 (Saint-Saëns) The Philadelphia Orchestra Leopold Stokowski Victor 6505 issued in 1925

Raoul Vidas Air for G String (Fiorillo-Vidas) Walter Golde (piano) Columbia A3313 7933 7 8 1920 New York

Raoul Vidas Ballet Music from Rosamunde (Schubert-Kreisler) Walter Golde (piano) Columbia A3313 79331 7 8 1920 New York

Raoul Vidas Danse villageoise (Dimitrescu) Solon Alberti (piano) Columbia A3488 79621 1 4 1921 New York

Raoul Vidas Jota Navarra (Sarasate) Walter Golde (piano) Columbia A3488 79399 9 3 1920 New York