Henryk Szeryng (violin)
The Unreleased Berlin Studio Recordings
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Partita for solo violin No 2 in D minor, BWV1004
Partita for solo violin No 3 in E major, BWV1006 – Preludio
César Franck (1822-1890)
Violin Sonata in A major
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Tzigane
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Violin Sonata No 5 in F major, Op 24 ‘Spring’
Violin Sonata No 7 in C minor, Op 30 No 2
Marinus Flipse (piano)
Günther Ludwig (piano: Franck, Beethoven Spring Sonata)
rec. 1962-63, Hall III, RBB, Berlin and 1982, Grant Hall, RBB, Berlin (Parita No.3)
THE LOST RECORDINGS TLR 2203040 [65 + 50]
Overlooked Szeryng material continues to emerge from the vaults. This twofer flies under the generic title ‘The Lost Recordings’, though paradoxically here they are, so they could most charitably be described as ‘lost and found’. Or just not lost at all, simply securely archived. It’s also available as a 2-LP 180g release. However you want to cut this particular mustard, and though the repertoire is about as central as it could be, I’m not aware that Szeryng made a commercial recording of the Franck though there is a surviving example with Mindru Katz on the Cembal d’amour label (review) and another from 1959 with Jeanne-Marie Darré.
The first disc combines two recitals from 1962-63, both in mono from Hall III, RBB, Berlin. Szeryng recorded two Bach Sonata and Partita cycles, the mono 1952 and the stereo DG set from 1967. Bach’s D minor Partita from Berlin is consistently refined, clarity-conscious, elegant and precise without any loss of personality. He seems to fluff the first note of the Gigue, and he does it again in the repeat. The Chaconne is direct, eloquent and devoid of artifice; he holds the last note until it dies away imperceptibly. The Franck Sonata is with Günther Ludwig, then in his very early 30s, who also worked with Grumiaux, Milstein and the Amadeus Quartet in their German tours. Typically, it’s played with a hint of understatement with supple expressive devices, an expansion of intensity in the Recitativo-Fantasia and a confident sense of culmination in the finale; a characteristic, expert reading. Szeryng had the droll swagger necessary for Ravel’s Tzigane, underplaying it slightly to fine effect.
The two Beethoven sonatas are housed in the second disc. The Spring, with Ludwig once again, is rhythmically excellent, and vibrantly played, the Scherzo slyly avuncular. For the C minor sonata Szeryng is joined by Marinus Flipse, the experienced Dutch player associated with Jacques Thibaud, Herman Krebbers and Theo Olof. Both purposeful and subtle, Szeryng’s phrasing in the slow movement is truly elevated. These 1962-63 performances are all mono, but the final one, the Preludio from Bach’s Partita No 3 was recorded in stereo in 1982 and is the only one to capture audience applause.
Szeryng was a remarkably consistent performer, whose standards seldom slipped. He has been accorded fine remasterings and presentation with full notes in French and English. The real prize here, in reportorial terms, is the Franck, but everything Szeryng did, even if he did it multiply, is valuable and this twofer is no exception.
Jonathan Woolf
