• Genre: Classical
• Active: '30s, '40s

Biography

The Magnante Quartet, to put it in simple terms, was the band that played at what is considered the single most important event in the history of the accordion. Since this is a controversial instrument, it must be admitted that detractors would probably be skeptical about the existence of any events at all in the history of the accordion, let alone important ones. Lovers of the instrument, on the other hand, don't need much more to get their bellows pumping than the memory of the first time an accordion was played on-stage in Carnegie Hall. It was the spring of 1939, and this booking for the Magnante Quartet, led by accordion virtuoso Charles Magnante, raised many an eyebrow in the elite classical music society that treated this famous venue as if it were their living room. There were plenty of Carnegie Hall patrons whose living rooms were no doubt larger than the venue's stage, and to such wealthy scions the accordion represented horrible things such as poverty, immigrants with garlic on their breath, and street musicians rattling cups of coins. This stereotype really had very little to do with the activities of the Magnante Quartet. The group was originally formed in the mid-'30s as a guest attraction for the Lucky Strike Hit Parade show. Somewhere along the line of shilling for smokes, leader Magnante had some kind of revelation. He decided to put all his energy into creating an accordion ensemble that would be taken seriously, which in turn would up the complexity level of music being scored for the instrument.

He chose three of the most accomplished accordion players he could find: Joe Biviano, Gene von Halsberg, and Abe Goldman. It was truly a squeeze-box supergroup. By the time Carnegie Hall had made the pen scribble in the calendar, the foursome had already recorded a series of sides for Columbia and appeared on programs which also included the Major Bowes Capitol Family and Fred Allen's Town Hall Tonight. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart were among the heavyweights whose material was prepared for the historic concert. It was hardly the usual stuff played on accordion and had required hundreds of hours of transcription. More typical accordion fare was presented in the second half of the program, classical snobs and other skeptics having been vanquished. The city's streets were obscured in fog, a thick enough blanket to keep a prospector warm on the coldest night. Nevertheless there was hardly an empty seat in the venue. Many famous classical musicians attended, as did a couple that had driven all the way from Saskatchewan. All in all it was the historic accordion night many knew it would be, but as might be expected some members of the press had reservations. The program still "...left room for a certain amount of doubt whether the color and range of the instrument is sufficient to sustain interest at an even pitch throughout a complete program," worried the New York Herald Tribune. Oh well.

Mission accomplished, Magnante and his associates really never had another night as exciting as that one, and for the most part concentrated on their individual playing careers. Between the four of them they covered nearly half the accordion solos on records in the next three decades, including recordings with Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Enoch Light, Johnnie Ray, and Eartha Kitt. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide