Johanna Martzy - Her Columbia Graphophone Recordings - The Complete Warner Classics Edition

Johanna Martzy - Her Columbia Graphophone Recordings - The Complete Warner Classics Edition

0190296488573 (Warner Classics, CD, 9 discs)

Mono
COMPILATION (4 March 2022)
Tracks: 68
Booklet pages: 20
℗ 2022 Parlophone Records Ltd
© 2022 Parlophone Records Ltd
Country of manufacture: Germany
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Johanna Martzy - Her Columbia Graphophone Recordings - The Complete Warner Classics Edition published on 12 February 2022

Johanna Martzy, violin
Jean Antonietti, piano (CD5-7)
Philharmonia Orchestra (CD1, 8 and 9)
Paul Kletzki, conductor (CD1, 8)
Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor (CD9)

CD1

Johannes Brahms:

Violin Concerto

CD2

J S Bach:

Sonata No 1 and Partita No 1 for solo violin, BWV 1001-2

CD3

J S Bach:

Sonata No 2 and Partita No 2 for solo violin, BWV 1003-4

CD4

J S Bach:

Sonata No 3 and Partita No 3 for solo violin, BWV 1005-6

CD5

Franz Schubert:

Violin Sonata D 384 ('Sonatina No 1')

Violin Sonata D 385 ('Sonatinas No 2')

CD6

Franz Schubert:

Rondo D 895 'Rondeau brillant'

Fantasie in C, D 934

CD7

Franz Schubert:

Violin Sonata D 408 ('Sonatina No 3')

Violin Sonata D 574 ('Grand Duo')

CD8

Felix Mendelssohn:

Violin Concerto

Ludwig van Beethoven:

Two Romances

CD9

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Violin Concerto No 3

Felix Mendelssohn:

Violin Concerto

Extraordinary Jewish violinist Johanna Emilia Maria Martzy (born 26 October 1924 in Timişoara) was forced to flee her home in Hungary during Nazi occupation in World War II and eventually interned in a camp in Austria. Nevertheless, by 1947 she won second prize in the violin category of Geneva International Music Competition with a performance of Mendelssohn’s E minor Violin Concerto, leading to major international engagements and, eventually, a record deal with Deutsche Grammophon. Later in her career, she retired from public view and when she passed away in 1979, her death was barely noted. In recent years, however, her recordings have attracted attention from record collectors and music lovers. The Columbia recordings date from 1954-1955, and include the Brahms Violin Concerto, Bach Sonatas and Partitas 1-3, a selection of Schubert Violin Sonatas, the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Beethoven 2 Romances, and the Mozart Violin Concerto No 3. Some of these recordings have been out of the limelight for several decades, meaning that this particular boxset is a fascinating record of Martzy’s discography and story.