Search - Joseph Szigeti :: Joseph Szigeti

Wonderful bargain, good sound, historical recordings

T. Fisher | 09/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This set was my first foray into the "Artone" series put out by Germany's Membran Music -- which is also known for its series of bargain 10-CD "Wallet boxes". I am very impressed with the quality of this set and will be looking into others.



Joseph Szigeti was known for his active participation in the contemporary music of his day -- not just playing the standard repertory from the 19th century and earlier. This set reflects Szigeti's work well in that respect. The set progresses in rough historical chronology, starting with Bach, Handel and Mozart on disc 1, proceeding to Beethoven on disc 2, and ending with 20th century works on discs 3 and 4.



There are some real historical gems -- including Bartok and Stravinsky playing the piano parts in their own pieces, to Szigeti's violin!



Indeed, Bartok's "Contrasts" is perhaps the real historical highlight, played by the trio of Szegedi, Bartok and Benny Goodman on clarinet. I have read that this piece was actually commissioned from Bartok by Benny Goodman.



Although the more modern pieces may be more significant, I am still a sucker for the Beethoven violin concerto, here in a very nice 1932 recording with Bruno Walter and the British Symphony.



There are two recordings featuring Szigeti with the London Philharmonic under Beecham. The Bloch concerto with the Concertgebouw under Willem Mengelberg is excellent. No shortage of fine historical recordings here!



The downside is the sound, but that being said the sound is very good for such old recordings. They date from 1932 to 1948, and you can hear this in that familiar muted, "old" sound. However, they have been cleaned up very well -- practically no noise, no distracting hisses, pops or cracks. I can enjoy less than vibrant old mono recordings as long as I'm not distracted by noise, and these recordings fit that description perfectly. The noise reduction may have taken some of the brightness out of the sound, but if you can appreciate and enjoy non-audiophile sound, you shouldn't have any problems here.



The track listing is as follows:



Disc 1

Bach

- Concerto in D minor BWV 1052 - 1940, Orchestra of the New Friends of Music

Handel

- Violin Sonata 7, Op 1 No 13 - 1937, Nikita Magaloff (piano)

Mozart

- Violin Concerto 4 KV 218 - 1934, London Philharmonic, Sir Thomas Beecham

- Violin Sonata 21 KV 304 - 1937, Nikita Magaloff (piano)



Disc 2

Beethoven

- Violin Concerto, Op 61 - 1932, British Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter

- Violin Sonata 5, Op 24 "Spring" - 1948, Arthur Schnabel (piano)



Disc 3

Prokofiev

- Violin Concerto 1, Op 19 - 1935, London Philharmonic, Sir Thomas Beecham

- Sonata 2, Op 94 - 1945, Leonid Hambro (piano)

Bartok

- "Contrasts" - 1940, Szigeti with Béla Bartók (piano) and Benny Goodman (clarinet)

- Portrait for violin and orchestra, Op 5 - 1946, Philharmonia Orchestra, Constant Lambert



Disc 4

Bloch

- Violin Concerto in A minor - 1939, Concertgebouw, Willem Mengelberg

Stravinsky

- Duo concertant for Violin and Piano - 1945, Igor Stravinsky (piano)

- "Chanson Russe" - 1946, Igor Stravinsky (piano)



The set comes with an 18-page booklet, although only half of this total length is in English. The biographical essay on Szigeti is very good and informative.



Highly recommended, and a fantastic bargain for the price of about $17 when I purchased it!"