Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonín Dvořák, Manuel de Falla, Arthur Honegger, Ernst Krenek, Darius Milhaud, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Karol Szymanowski
Performer: Johanna Martzy, Joseph Joachim, Jean Antonietti, Michael Mann, Dika Newlin
Orchestra: Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Eloquence
Catalogue: ELQ4843299
Release: 2021
Size: 462 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53
01. I. Allegro ma non troppo – Quasi moderato
02. II. Adagio, ma non troppo
03. III. Finale. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K218
04. I. Allegro
05. II. Andante cantabile
06. III. Rondeau. Andante – Allegro
Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 24 in F major, K376
07. I. Allegro
08. II. Andante
09. III. Rondo. Allegretto grazioso
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30 No. 3
10. I. Allegro assai
11. II. Tempo di minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso
12. III. Allegro vivace
13. Ravel: Berceuse sur le nom de Fauré
14. Ravel: Vocalise-étude en forme de habanera
15. Milhaud: Ipanema (No. 5 from Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67)
16. Falla: Danse Espagnole No. 1 (from La Vida Breve)
Szymanowski: Nocturne & Tarantella, Op. 28
17. I. Notturno
18. II. Tarantella
Krenek: Sonata for viola and piano, Op. 117
19. I. Andante
20. II. Allegro vivace
21. III. Andantino
Honegger: Viola Sonata, H 28
22. I. Andante – vivace
23. II. Allegretto moderato
24. III. Allegro non troppo
Milhaud: Visages for viola & piano, Op. 238
25. I. La Californienne
26. II. The Wisconsonian
27. III. La Bruxelloise
28. IV. La Parisienne
Complete on CD for the first time, the Deutsche Grammophon legacy of cult violinist Johanna Martzy, and of violist Michael Mann. Five original DG albums complete on two CDs.
The brilliant tone and discriminating taste of the recordings made by Johanna Martzy (1924-79) mark her out among the finest violinists of her generation. Her EMI albums, supervised by Walter Legge, were once highly prized rarities.
However, her recording career began with DG, who partnered her with two of their star conductors, Ferenc Fricsay and Eugen Jochum, in concertos by Dvořák (1953) and Mozart (No 4, from 1955). She had performed the Dvořák with Fricsay in concert, and their recording preserves a harmonious meeting of two fierily temperamental artists, widely rated among the best of the non-Czech recordings of the work.
Plans for Martzy to record Tchaikovsky’s concerto were abandoned when Legge poached her for HMV/EMI but subsequently lost interest. We are left with a small, precious legacy which opened in 1951, in the dying days of 78rpm recording, with her most constant recital partner, Jean Antonietti, at the piano. Encore pieces by Ravel, Milhaud, Falla and Szymanowski capture her Hungarian fire but do not represent her inclination away from virtuoso repertoire and towards the great sonatas and concertos. Mozart’s F major Sonata followed, and then Beethoven’s Op. 30 No. 3 as a coupling for the Mozart.
When Martzy’s encore pieces were reissued on LP, they were coupled in original fashion with two modern viola sonatas played by Michael Mann (1919–76), son of the novelist Thomas Mann. Mann’s DG recordings were completed a few months later in May 1952 with the Quatre visages of Milhaud, issued on a seven-inch 45rpm disc; with this release they reach CD for the first time. In his time Mann was recognised as a fine musician in his own right and not merely his father’s son. He played in the San Francisco Symphony before teaching German literature at the University of California, Berkeley.