Johanna Martzy The Unreleased And Rare Recordings (2 LP)

Johanna Martzy is considered one of the most underrated violinists of her time, as the great Glenn Gould confirmed. The recordings, which have been extensively restored by The Lost Recordings and have now been released, date from the years between 1955 and 1965 and show the extraordinary talent of the Hungarian, whose career began early and, in addition to great ovations, was marked by all kinds of low blows before she died almost unnoticed in 1979 at the age of only 55. Trained at the prestigious Liszt Academy in Budapest, she won first prize at the Geneva Competition in 1947 and played under the direction of the young Leonard Bernstein in 1958. Together with Jean Antonietti at the piano, she plays Handel's Sonata for Violin and Basso continuo and Mozart's Sonata in B flat major, recorded in 1955 in the Jesus Christ Chapel in Berlin. Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major was recorded on 25 and 26 November 1961 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam together with the Radio Filharmonish Orkest, the Dutch Radio Orchestra, under the baton of Willem van Otterloo. A wonderful version of Ravel's Sonata for Violin in G major was again recorded at VARA Studios in the Netherlands, showing a lively yet intimate interpretation of the piece. 

Selections:

Side A
George Frideric Handel
Sonata for violin and basso continuo in F major, HWV 370
1. I. Adagio
2. II. Allegro
3. III. Largo
4. IV. Allegro
Side B
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Violin Sonata in B-flat major, K. 454
1. I. Largo - Allegro
2. II. Andante
3. III. Allegretto
Side C
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Violin Concerto, No. 3 in G major, K. 216
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Adagio
3. III. Rondeau: Allegro
Side D
Maurice Ravel Sonata for violin and piano in G major, No. 2, M. 77
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Blues
3. III. Perpetual motion machine