The Fine Arts Quartet
The Fine Arts Quartet has been one of the most enduring major string quartets in the modern era, and despite numerous personnel changes over the years, its collective talent and style have remained consistent. The group is known for the diversity and breadth of its repertoire, which, in addition to the traditional literature, encompasses contemporary pieces and rarely played older works. The quartet has appeared on television and radio broadcasts in the U.S. and Europe; it has recorded over 200 works and toured extensively. The Fine Arts Quartet expanded its recording catalog in 2023 with the album George Enescu: Early Chamber Music.
The Fine Arts Quartet was founded in Chicago in 1946. The original players, all then-current or one-time members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, were Leonard Sorkin (first violin), Joseph Stepansky (second violin), Sheppard Lehnhoff (viola), and George Sopkin (cello). The ensemble began to coalesce in 1940 with second violinist Ben Senescu, but World War II delayed its establishment until 1946. The Fine Arts Quartet is almost unique among American string quartets in having made appearances on such major U.S. television programs as The Today Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. It has also appeared on countless radio and public television broadcasts, both in the U.S. and Europe. From its founding through 1954, the group played regularly on Sunday mornings for ABC radio network broadcasts. It began making occasional television appearances in the '50s, and in 1958, it launched its annual European tour. In the late '60s, the Fine Arts Quartet toured Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department. From 1963 until 2018, the quartet made the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee its base of operations.
There have been numerous changes over the years to the Fine Arts Quartet's roster, particularly in the viola post. In 1982, Ralph Evans replaced Sorkin, the last original member. Efim Boico has served as the second violinist since 1983, and 2018 saw the addition of two new players: Gil Sharon on viola (the 11th person in this position) and Niklas Schmidt on cello. In recognition of the Fine Arts Quartet's commitment to contemporary music, it received a 2003-2004 Award for Adventurous Programming from Chamber Music America and ASCAP.
The quartet's recordings have been on such labels as Naxos, Music & Arts, and Lyrinx, and, in the more distant past, Columbia Masterworks, Everest, and Vox. It has received many awards and recognitions from Gramophone Magazine, Musicweb International, BBC Music Magazine, and American Record Guide, as well as multiple Grammy nominations. Among the group's acclaimed recordings are the 1998 Dvorák quartets opp. 96 and 105, the 2003 complete Mozart string quintets, both on Lyrinx, and the 2009 Fauré piano quintets, with Cristina Ortiz, on Naxos, which won a Grammy Award. Other significant recordings include Ysaÿe's Harmonies du Soir and the complete quartets of Schumann and Haydn. The Fine Arts Quartet has issued several recordings of Ignaz Lachner's arrangements of Mozart's piano concertos with pianist Alon Goldstein. In 2023, the Fine Arts Quartet joined pianists Gisele Witkowski and Fabio Witkowski for a recording of music by George Enescu.
© Robert Cummings & Keith Finke /TiVo
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Beethoven Complete String Quartets
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 4 Sep 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Middle Quartets
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 1 Jan 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quartet In A Minor, Opus 132
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 4 Sep 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Opus 131
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 4 Sep 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Early Quartets Opus 18 Complete (Numbers 1 Through 6)
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 1 Jan 1966
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Quartet In B Flat - Opus 130
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 4 Sep 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The "Trout" Quintet In A Major, Op. 114
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 3 Sep 1962
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Quartet In B Flat - Opus 135 And The Grosse Fugue Opus 133
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 1 Jan 1963
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Quartet No. 12 In E Flat, Opus 127
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 3 Sep 1962
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Brahms: Quintette pour clarinette et cordes & Variations sur un thème de Haydn (Mono Version)
Reginald Kell, The Fine Arts Quartet, Leopold Ludwig
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
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Quartet In D Minor, "Death And The Maiden"
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 4 Sep 1961
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Opus 18 (No. 3 In D Major / No. 4 In C Minor)
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 3 Sep 1959
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String Quartets No. 3 & No. 4
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 3 Sep 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quartet In E Flat Opus 74 / Quartet In F Minor Opus 95
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 29 Aug 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Septet For Strings And Winds In E Flat, Opus 20
The Fine Arts Quartet, The New York Woodwind Quartet
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 16 Sep 1960
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String Quartets No. 1 Opus 7, No. 2 Opus 17
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 4 Sep 1959
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Quintet K. 407 For Horn And Strings / Quartet K.370 For Oboe And Strings
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 29 Aug 1959
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The Late Quartets
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 23 Sep 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven String Quartet No 14
The Fine Arts Quartet, Leonard Sorkin, Irving Ilmer, Abram Loft, George Sopkin
Classical - Released by Allegro on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quartet In F, Op. 59, No. 1
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 1 Jan 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
String Quartets No. 5, No. 6
Classical - Released by Concert-Disc on 4 Sep 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo