Description

DANIEL KAPRILOWSKI (ALSO SPELLED KAPRILOWSKY OR KARPILOWSKI) (KYIV, NOVEMBER 21, 1895 – LOS ANGELES, JUNE 17, 1976)

 

 

 

 

Daniel Kaprilowski (also spelled Kaprilowsky or Karpilowski) was born in Kyiv on November 21, 1895. Unfortunately, no information has survived regarding his parents, family background, or early years. Consequently, it remains unknown what led him to pursue musical training as a violinist and to attempt a professional career in music. As later developments make clear, this decision was undoubtedly the right one, as he must have possessed exceptional musical talent. According to his own account, he gave his first public concerts at the age of ten.

He later continued his musical education at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (today the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory), where he studied with the renowned violinist Leopold von Auer (born June 7, 1845, in Veszprém; died July 15, 1930, in Dresden; active in St. Petersburg from 1868 to 1917).

The reasons why Kaprilowski settled in Berlin remain unclear, but it is likely that he perceived greater professional opportunities in the culturally diverse and vibrant artistic environment of Berlin during the 1920s than in revolutionary Russia. In any case, he had been residing in Berlin from August 1925 onward and by that time must already have been a master of his craft. There, together with other musicians, he founded the Guarneri Quartet in 1925. The ensemble took its name from the famous Italian family of violin makers, the Guarneri of Cremona. The quartet’s personnel changed several times thereafter, resulting in a somewhat complex history of membership.

In November 1926, Kaprilowski applied for German citizenship. The application documents reveal that he already held the title of Professor of Music at that time. In the same year, he was appointed to teach a violin class at the prestigious Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin, which had been established in 1893 through the merger of the Scharwenka Conservatory and Karl Klindworth’s Music School.

Kaprilowski apparently did not anticipate any serious obstacles to his naturalization and was therefore taken by surprise when his application was rejected by the Berlin Police President in April 1926. He appealed the decision, emphasizing his artistic achievements, impeccable personal conduct, stable financial situation, and what he described as his German cultural upbringing. He cited several prominent advocates, among them Professor Albert Einstein of the University of Berlin; the concert agency Hermann Wolff & Jules Sachs, then the largest in Germany; Ministerial Councillor Dr. A. Walter of the Reich Ministry of Food; and Directors Hampe and Guttmann of VOX-Schallplatten AG. In addition, Kaprilowski and the other members of the Guarneri Quartet addressed letters to the Reich Art Curator at the Reich Ministry of the Interior and even to the Reich President himself.

As a result, the Berlin Police President was required to justify the rejection to the Ministry of the Interior. In a letter dated May 15, 1926, he explained that the application had been denied because Kaprilowski was of foreign origin, had resided in Germany only since August 1925, and spoke very little German. Furthermore, unspoken doubts appear to have been raised regarding the legitimacy of his professorial title. The Prussian Minister for Science, Art, and Public Education likewise issued a negative opinion, stating that “no particular value was placed on the naturalization” of Daniel Kaprilowski. All efforts to obtain German citizenship thus proved unsuccessful.

As Kaprilowski came from a Jewish family, living and working conditions for him and the other members of the Guarneri Quartet deteriorated further with the rise of National Socialism. The inhumane consequences of Nazi ideology are starkly illustrated by the fact that recordings made by Jewish musicians were ordered to be destroyed. Deutsche Grammophon was therefore compelled to withdraw recordings of works by Beethoven and Haydn solely because they were performed by the Guarneri Quartet, whose leader, Daniel Kaprilowski, was listed in the Encyclopedia of Jews in Music. It is therefore hardly surprising that the musicians increasingly sought performance opportunities abroad, far from Nazi Germany.

In 1932, Kaprilowski appeared as a soloist in The Hague on the occasion of a commemoration for Anna Pavlova. An article published in the Dutch newspaper Bloemendaalse Weekblad on January 22, 1932, referred to him as a supposed member of a “Tsarist Quartet.” As early as 1930, he had toured the Netherlands with the Guarneri Quartet before embarking on a tour of South America. Another Dutch tour, organized in cooperation with the Ernst Kraus Concert Agency, was planned for 1934 but was most likely cancelled due to developments in South America.

After the dissolution of the Guarneri Quartet, Kaprilowski assumed a position as director of a music conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, although the precise nature of his responsibilities there remains unknown. Despite this appointment, he evidently continued to perform internationally. As late as 1934, he appeared together with the Hungarian pianist Lili Kraus in Amsterdam, The Hague, Brussels, Paris, and London (February–May and again in November 1934).

In February 1935, Kaprilowski traveled by ship from Le Havre to New York, listing Rio de Janeiro as his place of residence. Despite his professional ties to Brazil, he chose to remain permanently in the United States. On September 13, 1936, he applied for U.S. naturalization, giving Paris as his previous place of residence and declaring German nationality. Although he claimed German nationality, it is highly unlikely that he ever formally possessed it. On passenger lists for two subsequent transatlantic voyages from Trieste and Le Havre to New York in 1938 and 1939, he declared his nationality as Brazilian.

Shortly after arriving in the United States, Kaprilowski resumed an active musical career. In 1937, together with pianist Carl Friedberg (born September 18, 1872, in Bingen; died September 9, 1955, in Merano) and cellist Felix Salmond (born November 11, 1888, in London; died February 20, 1952, in New York), he co-founded the “Trio of New York.”

He submitted another naturalization application in 1942 and subsequently settled in Los Angeles, where he appears to have made his permanent home, as evidenced by his registration in the city’s electoral rolls. After the Second World War, he was again active in Europe, as documented by frequent transatlantic voyages in 1950, 1953, 1956, and 1961.

At the age of sixty-seven, Daniel Kaprilowski finally chose to formalize a long-standing personal relationship. On January 18, 1962, he married Maria Chaliapin (also spelled Chaliapina) in Los Angeles. She was most likely the divorced wife of the Russian opera singer Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin. The couple spent fourteen years together until Daniel Kaprilowski’s death on June 17, 1976, in Los Angeles. Maria Kaprilowski died there on February 28, 1988.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

The “German” Guarneri Quartet

Members:

• Daniel Karpilowsky – first violin

• Mauritz Stromfeld – second violin

• Boris Kroyt – viola

• Walter Lutz – cello

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Polydor 95320 – B 29322/1

Matrix: 115/4 BV VI

• W. A. Mozart: String Quartet in G major, KV 387

  • II. Minuet

  • IV. Finale: Molto allegro

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Polydor 95321 – B 29323/4

Matrix: 116/7 BV VI

• Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F major

  • I. Allegro moderato

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Polydor 95322 – B 29325/6

Matrix: 118/9 BV VI

• Alexander Borodin: String Quartet in D major

  • III. Notturno

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Polydor 95335 – B 29331/2

Matrix: 112½ / 113 BV VI

• Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2

  • IV. Finale: Presto

• Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 74 No. 3

  • II. Largo assai

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Polydor 95336 – B 29333/4

Matrix: 110 / 111½ BV VI

• Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 12

  • II. Canzonetta

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 30

  • II. Allegretto

 

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Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio in B, Op. 8

Piano Trio in B, Op. 8: I. Allegro con brio (ends at double bar)

Piano Trio in B, Op. 8: III. Adagio non troppo (starts at m.27)

Piano Trio in B, Op. 8: IV. Finale. Allegro Molto Agitato

Piano Trio in c, Op. 101: I. Allegro energico

Piano Trio in c, Op. 101: II. Presto non assai

Piano Trio in c, Op. 101: III. Andante grazioso & IV. ms. 1-14

Trio of New York: Carl Friedberg, piano; Danil Karpilovski, violin; Felix Salmond, cello

New York, 1939