“The First Time I Recorded the Tchaikovsky, I used my Strad...This Time I Played my Joseph Curtin.”
Erick Friedman first recorded the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concerti in 1962 with the London Symphony [RCA60491]. He played his 1724 “Ludwig” Stradivari. In 1978 he made a second recording of the Tchaikovsky, playing his “Balokovic” Guarneri del Gesu.
Then, in September of 1997, Friedman flew to Monaco to record the two concerti once again. This time he played his 1997 Joseph Curtin.
“In the course of my forty-year career,” says Friedman, “I've owned a Strad and two del Gesus. When I recorded the Bach Double with Heifetz [RCA67782], I used the Strad. Heifetz, as always, played his Guarneri del Gesu, the “David.”
“I purchased a Joseph Curtin violin in 1995 and concertized on it for two years. Joseph and I talked a lot about sound. I look for brilliance and projection, but most of all a certain quality - something inherent to the violin that cannot be produced by the player. Of course, you have to know how to play! There has to be a symbiosis of instrument, bow pressure, and vibrato. This was Wieniawski's approach, passed on to me by Heifetz via Auer.
“In 1997 I commissioned a new violin from Joseph. It's a tremendous instrument. I love the sound and the appearance, and both have drawn high praise from the most knowledgeable and critical audience that I know - professional orchestral musicians.”
When Tully Potter reviewed Friedman's May 1998 London recital for Strad Magazine he wrote, “I found much of his playing - on a Joseph Curtin violin - absolutely ravishing...”