My set of the Eloquence issue of Joseph Szigeti's Mercury recordings for the first time on CD just arrived from Presto Music. I know the recordings very well, but tore off the shrink-wrap, eager to learn how Eloquence managed to gain permission to issue
them after they had lain under interdiction in the Universal vaults for 40 years, thanks to the disapproval of Wilma Cozart Fine. Alas, though Tully Potter's essay is, as one would expect, full of interesting and valuable detail about Szigeti's life and
carrier, it remains mum on the subject that interested me the most.

Larry Lapidus

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On 3/7/23 6:19 PM, LarryLap wrote:

My set of the Eloquence issue of Joseph Szigeti's Mercury recordings for the first time on CD just arrived from Presto Music. I know the recordings very well, but tore off the shrink-wrap, eager to learn how Eloquence managed to gain permission to

issue them after they had lain under interdiction in the Universal vaults for 40 years, thanks to the disapproval of Wilma Cozart Fine. Alas, though Tully Potter's essay is, as one would expect, full of interesting and valuable detail about Szigeti's
life and carrier, it remains mum on the subject that interested me the most.

Larry Lapidus

Thanks for bringing this up - I've admired Szigeti since hearing the LP
recital with Bartok years ago - a great Kreutzer sonata.

I now have a lot of his recordings, mainly his later work on Vanguard
when his technique had deteriorated (there are very many readily
available from various MP3 boxes through Amazon).

Since you are knowledgable about Szigeti, I was wondering if you could recommend a few of his recordings that are particularly special, whether
on YT or available elsewhere?

I just discovered on YT an extremely interesting Beethoven concerto,
with Bruno Walter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMzkgA6Yy44

Although it is from 1932 the sound is good and both Szigeti and Walter
are great.

As to the question about availability now of the Mercury recordings, the remastering was done by "Thomas Fine" so presumably the family now agrees?

Thanks in advance!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 5:10:18 AM UTC, Notsure01 wrote:

On 3/7/23 6:19 PM, LarryLap wrote:

My set of the Eloquence issue of Joseph Szigeti's Mercury recordings for the first time on CD just arrived from Presto Music. I know the recordings very well, but tore off the shrink-wrap, eager to learn how Eloquence managed to gain permission to

issue them after they had lain under interdiction in the Universal vaults for 40 years, thanks to the disapproval of Wilma Cozart Fine. Alas, though Tully Potter's essay is, as one would expect, full of interesting and valuable detail about Szigeti's
life and carrier, it remains mum on the subject that interested me the most.

Larry Lapidus

Thanks for bringing this up - I've admired Szigeti since hearing the LP recital with Bartok years ago - a great Kreutzer sonata.

I now have a lot of his recordings, mainly his later work on Vanguard
when his technique had deteriorated (there are very many readily
available from various MP3 boxes through Amazon).

Since you are knowledgable about Szigeti, I was wondering if you could recommend a few of his recordings that are particularly special, whether
on YT or available elsewhere?

I just discovered on YT an extremely interesting Beethoven concerto,
with Bruno Walter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMzkgA6Yy44

Although it is from 1932 the sound is good and both Szigeti and Walter
are great.

As to the question about availability now of the Mercury recordings, the remastering was done by "Thomas Fine" so presumably the family now agrees?

Thanks in advance!

Here's a 30-second plug for the set, uploaded two days ago ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX7lTVUEv5o

Why did Wilma disapprove of them?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Wed, 8 Mar 2023, Notsure01 wrote:

On 3/7/23 6:19 PM, LarryLap wrote:

My set of the Eloquence issue of Joseph Szigeti's Mercury recordings for
the first time on CD just arrived from Presto Music. I know the recordings >> very well, but tore off the shrink-wrap, eager to learn how Eloquence
managed to gain permission to issue them after they had lain under
interdiction in the Universal vaults for 40 years, thanks to the
disapproval of Wilma Cozart Fine. Alas, though Tully Potter's essay is, as >> one would expect, full of interesting and valuable detail about Szigeti's
life and carrier, it remains mum on the subject that interested me the
most.

Larry Lapidus

Thanks for bringing this up - I've admired Szigeti since hearing the LP recital with Bartok years ago - a great Kreutzer sonata.

I now have a lot of his recordings, mainly his later work on Vanguard when his technique had deteriorated (there are very many readily available from various MP3 boxes through Amazon).

Since you are knowledgable about Szigeti, I was wondering if you could recommend a few of his recordings that are particularly special, whether on YT or available elsewhere?

I just discovered on YT an extremely interesting Beethoven concerto, with Bruno Walter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMzkgA6Yy44

Although it is from 1932 the sound is good and both Szigeti and Walter are great.

As to the question about availability now of the Mercury recordings, the remastering was done by "Thomas Fine" so presumably the family now agrees?

Thanks in advance!

Szigeti is one of my favorite violinists, but hadn't he already lost too
much by the time of those Mercury releases?

I happen to admire his Bach solo works on Vanguard, in that his difficulties contribute to a sense of struggle, which I find appopriate. But there
are much earlier recordings of just Sonatas 1 and 2 which are wonderful performances in his prime, and have been available on Biddulph and
Opus Kura. (Of course early-30's sound.) Maybe available at Amazon??

I can also highly recommend his late-20's to early-30's concerto
recordings (English Columbia, I think). Four CD's on Naxos Historical
are available at Presto, some at special-offer prices. Some or
all were done by Mark Obert-Thorn. I would especially note the
Prokofiev and Mendelssohn with Beecham and the Brahms with Hamilton
Harty - I'd say among top reommendations for those works. (I had not
been aware of the Bach concerto CD, which does include one 1950's
performance.)
--
Al Eisner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Wed, 8 Mar 2023, Al Eisner wrote:

On Wed, 8 Mar 2023, Notsure01 wrote:

On 3/7/23 6:19 PM, LarryLap wrote:

My set of the Eloquence issue of Joseph Szigeti's Mercury recordings for >>> the first time on CD just arrived from Presto Music. I know the
recordings very well, but tore off the shrink-wrap, eager to learn how
Eloquence managed to gain permission to issue them after they had lain
under interdiction in the Universal vaults for 40 years, thanks to the
disapproval of Wilma Cozart Fine. Alas, though Tully Potter's essay is, >>> as one would expect, full of interesting and valuable detail about
Szigeti's life and carrier, it remains mum on the subject that interested >>> me the most.

Larry Lapidus

Thanks for bringing this up - I've admired Szigeti since hearing the LP
recital with Bartok years ago - a great Kreutzer sonata.

I now have a lot of his recordings, mainly his later work on Vanguard when >> his technique had deteriorated (there are very many readily available from >> various MP3 boxes through Amazon).

Since you are knowledgable about Szigeti, I was wondering if you could
recommend a few of his recordings that are particularly special, whether on >> YT or available elsewhere?

I just discovered on YT an extremely interesting Beethoven concerto, with
Bruno Walter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMzkgA6Yy44

Although it is from 1932 the sound is good and both Szigeti and Walter are >> great.

As to the question about availability now of the Mercury recordings, the
remastering was done by "Thomas Fine" so presumably the family now agrees? >>
Thanks in advance!

Szigeti is one of my favorite violinists, but hadn't he already lost too
much by the time of those Mercury releases?

I happen to admire his Bach solo works on Vanguard, in that his difficulties contribute to a sense of struggle, which I find appopriate. But there
are much earlier recordings of just Sonatas 1 and 2 which are wonderful performances in his prime, and have been available on Biddulph and
Opus Kura. (Of course early-30's sound.) Maybe available at Amazon??

I can also highly recommend his late-20's to early-30's concerto
recordings (English Columbia, I think). Four CD's on Naxos Historical are available at Presto, some at special-offer prices. Some or
all were done by Mark Obert-Thorn. I would especially note the Prokofiev and Mendelssohn with Beecham and the Brahms with Hamilton
Harty - I'd say among top reommendations for those works. (I had not been aware of the Bach concerto CD, which does include one 1950's performance.)

And the Beethoven you mentioned (with Walter) is also on those disks.
--
Al Eisner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 3:47:41 PM UTC-5, Al Eisner wrote:

I happen to admire his Bach solo works on Vanguard, in that his difficulties contribute to a sense of struggle, which I find appopriate. But there
are much earlier recordings of just Sonatas 1 and 2 which are wonderful performances in his prime, and have been available on Biddulph and
Opus Kura. (Of course early-30's sound.) Maybe available at Amazon??

I can also highly recommend his late-20's to early-30's concerto
recordings (English Columbia, I think). Four CD's on Naxos Historical
are available at Presto, some at special-offer prices. Some or
all were done by Mark Obert-Thorn. I would especially note the
Prokofiev and Mendelssohn with Beecham and the Brahms with Hamilton
Harty - I'd say among top reommendations for those works. (I had not
been aware of the Bach concerto CD, which does include one 1950's performance.)
--
Al Eisner

I've been re-doing all of Szigeti's European Columbia recordings recently for Pristine Classical, using more advanced restoration tools from iZotope RX. The first three volumes are already available:

https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc621?_pos=8&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc660?_pos=6&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc682?_pos=7&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r

The last volume is due to come out in July. Unlike my series for Naxos, which just included the concertos, the Pristine releases include those as well as all of his solo recordings for English and French Columbia (including those two early Bach Sonata
recordings), and his four sides for Japanese Columbia and two sides for the US-based New Music Quarterly Recordings (Ives' Violin Sonata No. 4), which were not in Sony's Szigeti box. You can hear sound samples on the webpages linked above.

Mark O-T

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 9:53:33 AM UTC-5, Mark Obert-Thorn wrote:

On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 3:47:41 PM UTC-5, Al Eisner wrote:

I happen to admire his Bach solo works on Vanguard, in that his difficulties
contribute to a sense of struggle, which I find appopriate. But there
are much earlier recordings of just Sonatas 1 and 2 which are wonderful performances in his prime, and have been available on Biddulph and
Opus Kura. (Of course early-30's sound.) Maybe available at Amazon??

I can also highly recommend his late-20's to early-30's concerto recordings (English Columbia, I think). Four CD's on Naxos Historical
are available at Presto, some at special-offer prices. Some or
all were done by Mark Obert-Thorn. I would especially note the
Prokofiev and Mendelssohn with Beecham and the Brahms with Hamilton
Harty - I'd say among top reommendations for those works. (I had not
been aware of the Bach concerto CD, which does include one 1950's performance.)
--
Al Eisner

I've been re-doing all of Szigeti's European Columbia recordings recently for Pristine Classical, using more advanced restoration tools from iZotope RX. The first three volumes are already available:

https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc621?_pos=8&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r
https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc660?_pos=6&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r
https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc682?_pos=7&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r

The last volume is due to come out in July. Unlike my series for Naxos, which just included the concertos, the Pristine releases include those as well as all of his solo recordings for English and French Columbia (including those two early Bach Sonata

recordings), and his four sides for Japanese Columbia and two sides for the US-based New Music Quarterly Recordings (Ives' Violin Sonata No. 4), which were not in Sony's Szigeti box. You can hear sound samples on the webpages linked above.

Mark O-T

Yes, your new transfers are superior to the old ones. Dang, I have to wait to July for the series to finish! Hoping for some more Boult soon.

Dennis H

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.

On Thu, 9 Mar 2023, Mark Obert-Thorn wrote:

On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 3:47:41 PM UTC-5, Al Eisner wrote:

I happen to admire his Bach solo works on Vanguard, in that his difficulties >> contribute to a sense of struggle, which I find appopriate. But there
are much earlier recordings of just Sonatas 1 and 2 which are wonderful
performances in his prime, and have been available on Biddulph and
Opus Kura. (Of course early-30's sound.) Maybe available at Amazon??

I can also highly recommend his late-20's to early-30's concerto
recordings (English Columbia, I think). Four CD's on Naxos Historical
are available at Presto, some at special-offer prices. Some or
all were done by Mark Obert-Thorn. I would especially note the
Prokofiev and Mendelssohn with Beecham and the Brahms with Hamilton
Harty - I'd say among top reommendations for those works. (I had not
been aware of the Bach concerto CD, which does include one 1950's
performance.)
--
Al Eisner

I've been re-doing all of Szigeti's European Columbia recordings recently for Pristine Classical, using more advanced restoration tools from iZotope RX. The first three volumes are already available:

https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc621?_pos=8&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r
https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc660?_pos=6&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r
https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc682?_pos=7&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r

The last volume is due to come out in July. Unlike my series for Naxos, which just included the concertos, the Pristine releases include those as well as all of his solo recordings for English and French Columbia (including those two early Bach Sonata

recordings), and his four sides for Japanese Columbia and two sides for the US-based New Music Quarterly Recordings (Ives' Violin Sonata No. 4), which were not in Sony's Szigeti box. You can hear sound samples on the webpages linked above.

Mark O-T

Great to learn that - thanks for both your work and the information.
--
Al Eisner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 11:27:11 AM UTC-8, Al Eisner wrote:

On Thu, 9 Mar 2023, Mark Obert-Thorn wrote:

On Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 3:47:41 PM UTC-5, Al Eisner wrote:

I happen to admire his Bach solo works on Vanguard, in that his difficulties
contribute to a sense of struggle, which I find appopriate. But there
are much earlier recordings of just Sonatas 1 and 2 which are wonderful >> performances in his prime, and have been available on Biddulph and
Opus Kura. (Of course early-30's sound.) Maybe available at Amazon??

I can also highly recommend his late-20's to early-30's concerto
recordings (English Columbia, I think). Four CD's on Naxos Historical
are available at Presto, some at special-offer prices. Some or
all were done by Mark Obert-Thorn. I would especially note the
Prokofiev and Mendelssohn with Beecham and the Brahms with Hamilton
Harty - I'd say among top reommendations for those works. (I had not
been aware of the Bach concerto CD, which does include one 1950's
performance.)
--
Al Eisner

I've been re-doing all of Szigeti's European Columbia recordings recently for Pristine Classical, using more advanced restoration tools from iZotope RX. The first three volumes are already available:

https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc621?_pos=8&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r
https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc660?_pos=6&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r
https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pasc682?_pos=7&_sid=ae27f735b&_ss=r

The last volume is due to come out in July. Unlike my series for Naxos, which just included the concertos, the Pristine releases include those as well as all of his solo recordings for English and French Columbia (including those two early Bach

Sonata recordings), and his four sides for Japanese Columbia and two sides for the US-based New Music Quarterly Recordings (Ives' Violin Sonata No. 4), which were not in Sony's Szigeti box. You can hear sound samples on the webpages linked above.

Mark O-T

Great to learn that - thanks for both your work and the information.
--
Al Eisner

I attempted to post the following response to this thread two days ago, but was blocked by the email system for reasons I cannot explain:

"My recommendation is to visit pristine classical.com, and purchase Mark Obert-Thorn's remastering of the Brahms Concerto with Hamilton Harty, the Beethoven Concerto with Bruno Walter and the Mendelssohn with Thomas Beecham. In one fell swoop, you will
have acquired three of the greatest documents in the history of recorded music, and arguably the greatest recordings ever made of those three staples of the violin repertoire.

Larry

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On 3/9/23 2:54 PM, LarryLap wrote:

"My recommendation is to visit pristine classical.com, and purchase Mark Obert-Thorn's remastering of the Brahms Concerto with Hamilton Harty, the Beethoven Concerto with Bruno Walter and the Mendelssohn with Thomas Beecham.

I appreciate the suggestions and will definitely buy the new Pristine transfers.

Although I also enjoy many other versions of the LVB concerto (Oistrakh/Cluytens, Perlman, Hahn) the Szigeti 1932 performance has so
many subtleties in phrasing that makes it very special - particularly in
the slow movement.

It's definitely difficult to express in words what makes it so
distinctive, but I found this in an online review by Jonathan Woolf:

"his portamenti are expressive, his line fuses animation with
relaxation, whilst conveying all the while a sense of involving depth.
In the Larghetto, moments of pregnant expressive meaning are infused
with subtly increased vibrato usage and colour, his portamenti
beautifully apt and clear, those "backward" portamenti for which he was (in)famous always constructively employed. His correlation of individual episodes here is of the highest architectural acuity and his playing of singular beauty, even if tonally he lacks precisely that quality; at
moments such as this it’s of little account. His Rondo finale is full of fresh air, with some deliciously quick and easeful slides accompanying
him, and a sense of conclusive surety and delight in the playing."

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/feb03/JosephSzigetibeeth.htm

Thanks Larry, Al, and (of course) Mark!


Edith Peinemann

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On 3/9/23 7:32 PM, Notsure01 wrote:

  Edith Peinemann

Sorry - hit send prematurely. I meant to mention another special
version, Edith Peinemann with Szell, a live performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFHfXOpgis0

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 4:52:20 PM UTC-8, Notsure01 wrote:

On 3/9/23 7:32 PM, Notsure01 wrote:

Edith Peinemann

Sorry - hit send prematurely. I meant to mention another special
version, Edith Peinemann with Szell, a live performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFHfXOpgis0

Mark O-T has also restored what I believe are most of Huberman's concerto performances
including an almost exact contemporaneous performance of the Beethoven concerto, as
well as the Tchaikovsky. Of course they are much freer in phrasing and filled with character
and personality.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 4:52:20 PM UTC-8, Notsure01 wrote:

On 3/9/23 7:32 PM, Notsure01 wrote:

Edith Peinemann

Sorry - hit send prematurely. I meant to mention another special
version, Edith Peinemann with Szell, a live performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFHfXOpgis0

Mark O-T has also restored what I believe are most of Huberman's concerto performances
including an almost exact contemporaneous performance of the Beethoven concerto, as
well as the Tchaikovsky. Of course they are much freer in phrasing and filled with character
and personality.

The Pristine restoration of Szigeti/Bartok Library of Congress recital breathes new life into
fantastic musicianship. Someone mentioned the Kreutzer sonata. I'll do it again.....

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)