Customer Reviews

Bach: Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin

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There are so many recordings of Bach; I choose this one by Szeryng.

No other performance or recording of the Unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas for violin has pleased me more than this recording by Szeryng. The playing is effortless, the lines are intact, and every idea is presented in a compelling and developed way. This is Bach that has been eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for years.

Szeryng is not showy. The music is meticulous, detail-oriented, and contemplative. The best virtues of his playing emerge in the fugues and the chaconne, where multistopped chords have no harshness, and the technical challenges do not interfere with the musical line. The long continous section of rolled chords in the middle of the chaconne is especially well-presented. The tempo he chooses, such as in the presto movement in the G minor Sonata, is generally non-strenuous, allowing the mechanics of playing to fade behind the structure of the musical line.

This recording stands well against more recent ones; even the recording quality is comparable. While other artists have fine recordings of one or several of the movements, this recording by Szeryng distinguishes itself by presenting the entire body of works with uniform sensitivity and understanding.

Szeryng is currently, for reasons I do not comprehend, less well known than many other violinists - but he was demonstrably superior to almost all of them. He was one of the five or so greatest violinists of the century. Szeryng's Bach is in a class by itself. Nobody has Szeryg's unique combination of musical, intellectual and technical gifts that make him the perfect interpreter of the Bach solo repertiore: he has abundant strength, absolute control of the bow, perfect intonation, an uncanny sense for architecture and structure, the highest intelligence and analytic penetration, and a huge, organ-like tone. Beyond that, he loved this music more than any other. Playing Bach was always an intensely religious experience for Szeryng. That comes across in these recordings. They are not about an individual expressing his feelings or celebrating his subjectivity. They are about a great artist dedicating his entire being, talent and skills to the greater cause inherent in Bach's music. The result is overwhelming: a spectacular celebration of Bach's musical transcendence.

Szeryng made two complete cycles of the Bach sonatas andpartitas: one in 1954 for Columbia records, and the one currentlydiscussed in 1968. The 1954 recording is a slightly better performance. I have the old Odyssey LP copy of the 1954 recording, and am seeking the quickly-out-of-print Sony CD version of the 1954 recording. Having said this, the DG CD version here offered is a marvelous recording, and cheap to boot. You won't regret this purchase. When Artur Rubinstein first heard Szeryng play Bach, he was reduced to tears and begged to become Szeryng's accompanist.

I'm happy to see this recording at last get the accolades that it deserves, at least in this forum. I can only add my voice to the chorus: Henryk Szeryng had no peer when it came to playing Bach. I heard this quiet, unassuming man play twice, both times included solo Bach partitas or sonatas. Each time, I came away shaken and speechless - so powerfully did he bring this sublime music to life. Now that Szerying is gone, these recordings may be as close as we can get to hearing Bach himself play the fiddle.

Bach's Sonatas and Partitas are my favourite pieces. There is something magical about these which make me listen to them. I have a pretty good collection of recordings of these pieces (Heifetz, Menuhin(2), Grumiaux, Milstein (2), Hahn, Shumsky, Suk, Enescu, Ricci and of course Szerying (2)). What can I say? They all bring their personality to these pieces. It's really fun to listen to those. Szerying's second recording (one released by DG) is one that truely moved me. I have never heard anyone playing these pieces so well. The intepretation, in my opinion, is without a peer and it defies all attempts to describe it. You really have to listen to them.

For years, I have favored the Milstein recording, which is rightly regarded as one of the finest ever interpretations of these works...however I have to say that I prefer Szeryng's Bach to Milstein's. And this is no slight at all, as I still find Milstein's interpretations emotional, fascinating and virtuosic. The problem is, I can only listen to the Milstein recordings once in a while, and yet I find myself listening to Szeryng's recording quite often. I guess I feel as though Szeryng's technical expertise and perfect control match the precision of Bach's music more closely than the Milstein reading.
Szeryng approaches these works with extreme reverence and respect, allowing Bach's genius to be laid bare before us. He essentially "steps out of the way", allowing the music to flow through his instrument, leaving almost no barrier between Bach and the listener. The Chaconne on this disc is one of the most heart-rending performances I have ever heard, a nearly religious experience in my opinion. This disc would be worth the purchase for this work alone...and when you consider that the rest of the movements are approached with the same focus and intensity by Szeryng, this set becomes a clear winner. One other set worthy of note is the Grumiaux cycle on Philips; however even that superlative set pales in comparison to the grandeur of these performances.
A must have for any fan of this work, or Bach's other works, or music in general.

Henryk Szeryng was one of the great violinists of this century, fully equal - or superior - both technically and artistically to other more famous violinists. His performances of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas were particularly outstanding. Many years ago a leading magazine wrote that "nobody plays unaccompanied Bach like Henryk Szeryng." They were right; in this music he is without peer.

Not too long ago, I first listened to the second Partita for the solo violin in D minor. Before that, my impression was that the violin as a solo instrument can not progress into musical climax on its own, but rather accompaniment was a must at least of the piano. While the violin sound is my most favorite of all instruments, This realisation made me averse to violin sonatas, and by so delayed my discovery of the masterpiece that is the Bach partita repertoire.

Suffice to say, the moment I heard chaconne or ciaccona I realised that I just heard the greatest music to ever grace my ears. Never have I heard a thing such as this in my life, and I doubt any other piece could reflect such power and depth. This drove me to listen to every interpretation and recording I could find, and luckily eventually, I layed my hand on this recording.

Henryk Szeryng is a very rare violinist to behold when it comes to Bach. He is the only famous virtuoso who plays Bach with almost no embelishment, resulting in the purest recreation of Bach music on record. There are some who argue for the "authentic" instrument recreation (No chin rest, no shoulder blanket, even balance the violin on you chest and use the curved German bow for proper honest to God chords), while this might deliver Bach superficially authentic, it does not really address the purity of the music itself. For those who like their Bach dry and straight to the heart rather than shiny and sugar coated, there is simply no alternative to this Szeryng recording and there lies its greatness.

So how does Szeryng do it. how does he get away with making a record without the emblishments of so many of his peers. His technical mastery and iron technique give him such an even beautiful tone that one find himself lost in its purity. Truly a remarakable thing to behold when you hear his tone on this record (which I guess is being played on a Guarnerius Del Gesu from its sheer strength).

In this edited review I refrain from comparing Szeryng to Heifetz for two reasons. First I find it unfair to do so since there couldn't be two more different violinists out there. Secondly, because I was too severe in my critque of Heifetz's Bach, which I honestly still do not like but find it out of context here. The most important point here is that Szeryng is one of the greatest interpreters of this repertoire out there. No one comes close except for three in my opinion; Arthur Grumiaux, Nathan Milstein and Yehudi Menuhin. As for Arthur Grumiaux he is probably the closest of the thress to Szeryng, but doesn't carry the same level of purity but his work is great and highly recommended for its own sake. As for Milstein, you won't find a more piercing powerful interpretation out there, and while the tone carries strange sharpness, the sharpness serves its staccato very well giving it a very strong structure with a touch of romanticism. Menuhin on the other hand probably carries with him the most impressive arpeggio section I have ever heard in chaconne, so steady yet so dynamic. This old recording is a must for anyone who appreciate music for music's sake.

So in conclusion. Szerying's record is a must have, but I wouldn't own only one record of this masterpiece. Bach's music afterall is so vast and deep that one interpretation is not sufficient to grasp it. However, if you must own only one of these recordings, I would pick Szeryng's simply for its purity.

Another recommendation, and I can not help but make it. Is to get the "Best of Bach" CD by Phillips. I know it is cheap, but it carries one of the best Chaconnes I have ever heard, performed by Ilya Ioff. It is as if he learnt the lesson from his predecessors and conjured a piece that truly stands alone, while very emotional and romantic it has a very good interpretation to the silences and pauses specially in switching between sections and in the grand finale of Chaconne. The reason I recommend it here is that if you are really short on money, then you should consider getting this one instead.

Szeryng's recording is outstanding. The main appeal of this recording for me was his ability to enunciate all the different voices of the Bach pieces. This is especially evident in his superb recording of the Chaconne. I am not surprised to see that many see this recording as close to Bach's text as possible. However, Szeryng has to do a lot of interpretation to get it to that state. If he was "only" sticking to the text, then why won't most other virtuosos follow this example? When I listen to Szeryng (this Bach recording over a thousand times), I never grow tired. It is true that when one first listens to it, it does not seem as remarkable as some other playings, but the beauty of Szeryng's playing is the purity and transcendence with which he plays Bach. Each measured, full and clear note rings with the heart-wrenching pathos evident in many of Bach's pieces.
Another advantage of Szeryng's recording is that he has pretty faithful tempo, no awkward pauses or lenghtenings for emotional effect. While this may render his playing seemingly unremarkable in the first few hearings, one quickly realizes the incredible richness and beauty. For example, if one reads Bach or plays Bach, one cannot help but imagine dramatic pauses, lengthenings, flourishes to fully convey the emotion that is in the pieces. However, when the piece is played literally to those "additions," the text is no longer pure Bach but a translated or filtered Bach. Any "emotional interpretation" of the listener is no longer based on Bach, but on that certain interpretation. Szeryng's virtuosity lies in his ability to play Bach faithfully and *beautifully, leaving the listener to appreciate and use the imagination. This, in my opinion after over a thousand listenings, is the reason why Szeryng has that lasting appeal.

There is very little doubt that the technique Szeryng displayed in this recording is impeccable. Technically, it is as close to perfection as you can get. You can only get cleaner playing with a synthesizer.

Szeryng's S&P were often criticized for sounding Romantic. Well, I agree that they are not historically aware performances. But I think it is quite a stretch to call them Romantic. There is a kind of serenity in his playing that reminds me of Bach's organ music. It might not be how Bach or his contemporaries would have played it. But it definitely sounded like any other good Bach music to my ears.

If there is one thing that I don't like about this recording, it is that his playing sometimes sounds so careful that it sounds non-human. In other words, perfection is the only imperfection here.