Henryk Szeryng The Unreleased Berlin Studio Recordings (2 LP)

This production is exceptional in more ways than one. It's the first time we've found recordings that weren't made at a concert, but in a studio. And it's more than likely that the studios had the intention of releasing them. The RBB engineers have performed a true acoustic miracle: never before and at no time has the sound of a violin been reproduced with so much detail and authenticity.
To show you the artistic and technical skills of the sound engineers, we were determined to reproduce all the dynamics and details of this groundbreaking interpretation of Bach's Partita No. 2 and Franck's Sonata. A real challenge, because the tracks of the movements were divided into the four pages of a double album in 45 rpm format! This release is another first in the history of the label The Lost Recordings.
Henryk Szeryng - a majesty in Berlin
In April 1962 and April 1963, at intervals of one year, Berlin acousticians, among the most experienced in the world, adapted the removable panels on the walls of Studio No. 3 of the Berlin Funkhaus. This hall, a technical marvel based on revolutionary, albeit completely traditional, methods, was designed in 1929 by the architect Hans Poelzig with a unique and rarely achieved goal: to enable high-quality acoustics with an arbitrarily modulable reverberation, regardless of the frequencies radiated. Henryk Szeryng has a reputation as a conscientious, uncompromising and authentic master who is equivalent to a Milstein or a Grumiaux. He was 44 years old in April 1963. At the height of his art, he meticulously pulled out his Guarnerius del Gesu, called "the Duke", with whom he was to write violin history that day.
"The work of Johann Sebastian Bach is a Bible. Bach is the ultimate destination, where everything begins and everything ends. His music brings you closer to your soul." (Henryk Szeryng)
Partita No. 2 is a monumental work in terms of the richness and diversity of its composition, which uses an unusual polyphony for the solo violin. Bach seems to strive for a single theme that runs through the first four movements and culminates in the majestic Chaconne, which is structured like an independent work. The 15-minute Chaconne introduces a theme that is varied sixty-three times to evoke a universe of infinitely rich emotions in a highly constructed whole, from fear and sorrow to joy and hope. In order to grasp the growing power of this development, Henryk Szeryng wanted to perform the entire Partita in one go. It only takes two takes to achieve a performance of unique density, emotion and purity, the subtlety of which we were fortunate enough to capture.
Only a year earlier, Szeryng had recorded the Franck Sonata in the same Studio 3. There is an obvious kinship between Bach and César Franck: the sense of construction, the desire for unity, the control of time. The Violin Sonata, composed in 1886, is based on the same intense spelling as Bach's Partita. After the triumph of her premiere, her aura quickly spread beyond the musical realm. It is said to have inspired Marcel Proust to the love story of Charles Swann and Odette de Crécy in "Du côté de chez Swann". As with Partita No. 2, Henryk Szeryng and pianist Günther Ludwig have achieved a true alchemy here and delivered one of the most unforgettable interpretations of this work.

Features:

• 45 RPM
• 180-gram vinyl
• Double LP 
• Lacquer cut: Kevin Gray
• Master & Mothers: Quality Record Pressings

Selections:

Side A
Bach: Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004
1. Allemanda
2. Corrente
3. Sarabanda
Side B
1. Giga
2. Ciaccona
Side C
Franck: Sonata for violin and piano in A major, FWV 8
1. Allegretto ben moderato
2. Allegro-Quasi lento-Tempo primo
Side D
1. Recitativo-Fantasia
2. Allegretto poco mosso