E-flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3; Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47
“Kreutzer”
Henry Szeryng, violin/Gary Graffman, piano
Bridge 9165 71:16 (Distrib. Albany)****:
Recorded at the Library of Congress December 3 (Op. 12, No. 1) through
December 11, 1970, these excellent collaborations (in good mono sound)
feature the late Polish virtuoso Henryk Szeryng (1918-1988) and
American pianist Gary Graff man (b. 1928), a partial restoration of
recitals that included music as well by Brahms and Schumann. Called by
conductor Yoel Levi “the best-prepared violinist with whom I ever
worked,” Henryk Szeryng enjoyed a princely reputation among violinists,
sporting a Germanic-Franco pedigree that embraced Frenkel, Flesch,
Thibaud, and Bouillon. A fair pianist as well as supreme fiddler,
Szeryng was quite capable of expounding the orchestral parts of
concertos as well as his own contributions and cadenzas. Yet in spite
of the cerebral energies Szeryng brought to his vast repertory, he had
a quality of improvisation that kept his performances exciting.
The three sonatas by Beethoven here inscribed are old, familiar staples
in the Szeryng lexicon, but he moves the music without fuss and without
cloying mannerism. The Tema con Arizona from the D Major Sonata retains
its shape and it dynamic sense of flow. The sparkling E-flat Sonata
passes with almost invisible ease, with virtually no intrusion of
“personality” on the lyric and motor elements of the piece, especially
the touching Adagio con molto espiessione second movement. The gusto of
the final movements here and in the D Major are quite heart-pumping.
From the opening measures of the Kreutzer Sonata, we are in the throes
of high drama, a real whirlwind tour de force, with Graffman’s piano
contribution no less gripping. The beauty of the interpretation lies as
much in the pairing of equals as in the individual bravura of its
participants. Collectors will naturally associate the more explosive
and affecting moments with the great duo recitals from Adolf Busch and
Rudolf Serkin, Wolgang Schneiderhahn and Wilhelm Kempff, and Yehudi
Menuhin and Louis Kentner, – high company indeed. Bridge now has a
series of some twenty recitals from the Library of Congres in its
active catalogue, each worthy of repeated hearings and inexhaustible
lessons in musicianship.
