Bach Unaccompanied Violin Sonatas-Johanna Martzy

The Grumiaux on Philips is worth seeking out.

AMEN to that Tosta,his DG 1975 3 LP set of the Solo Sonatas and Partitas is amomg my very most treasured recordings, and I have thousands.

And, Schubert, you may know he kept it going nearly till the end. I saw him play at about age 78 and his Chaconne was to die for. His last performance (in his 80's) is documented on CD and DVD and it's very close to his prime stuff. What a guy.

Milstein ain't bad.

I just picked up a recording of Arturo Delmoni playing Partia No. 2 and some solo stuff by other composers. Great playing and, as always for Water Lily, magnificent sound. I dodn't know why everyone can't do it that well.

Chayro, there are so very many recordings of this work (Bach unacc. vln.) that it's mind-boggling to open up a discussion of which are the best ones. That said, I believe the two Heinrich Szeryng recordings are very highly regarded as far as "old-school" players go. My favorites are later artists who take the more "period" approach--Sergiu Luca, Rachel Podger and my absolute favorite, Lucy van Dael. Having heard her recordings with Baroque set-up (instrument, strings, and bow) it's now harder for me to listen to modern versions. YMMV, but you might want to check out some Szeryng and some van Dael.

I just bought the vinyl reissue of Johann Martzy playing Dvorak's Violin Concerto. This is a monophonic recording in decent sound, but the performance is exquisite. I plan to check out other recordings from this violinist.

Just bumping this back up. When I first purchased the Testament CDs, I found it a bit difficult to adjust to listening to solo violin on an extended basis, but once I got my mind wrapped around the concept, I am really enjoying these recordings.

If you like classical music and wish to expand your horizons a bit, I definitely recommend purchasing these CDs. Whether you want to spend $600 on the records is up to you. In any case, the music is good.

I just purchased the Testament reissues and they are quite nice, although it's a bit difficult for me to listen to an hour of solo violin. The Electric Recording Co. and Coup D'Archet offerings look beautiful, but I'm not sure I would spend that kind of money for them. But I do appreciate the efforts of anyone trying to turn out a no-compromise product.

It's interesting that all this attention is now focused on a somewhat (very?) obscure player, but it's nice that she gets to live again. I hope there is a heaven and that she is there and happy that people are listening to her music.

This guy does great with Bach's Cello Suites, highly recommended.

Zuill Bailey

Good Listening

Peter

Thanks. The Testament releases were all I could find as well. Ella4ever, any comments on sonic differences between the CDs and vinyl would be appreciated.

Briefly ( at a work computer) , Testment has reissued some of these on CD.Can't recall CD number at the moment but I'll check when I get home tonight.The quality is of Testament usual standards , i.e very very good.
I have both the Coup d'archet reissues and the ERC re-issues as well.I prefer both of these to the CD but that tends to be my preference anyway.I could be very satisfied with the CD though.

Testament reissued these - not sure if it's the same performance but they do an outstanding job. I have many of their LP's and have nothing but good things to say about them.

The 2 CD set will cost you under $30 - far cheaper than the orignal or ERC reissues.

http://www.testament.co.uk/shop/product/sbt21467.aspx