Description
Warner Classics: Bronisław Huberman — Beethoven: Violin Concerto & Kreutzer Sonata (Audio CD)
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Product Details:
- Product Type: Audio CD
- Brand / Label: Warner Classics
- Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
- Violinist: Bronisław Huberman
- Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic)
- Conductor: George Szell (Violin Concerto)
- Pianist: Ignaz Friedman (Kreutzer Sonata)
- Catalogue Number: 0190295895167
- UPC / Barcode: 0190295895167
- Release Year: 2017 (remaster; recordings 1930 & 1934)
- Genre: Classical
- Style: Historical recordings, mono
Product Features
- Format: CD
- Discs: 1
- Total runtime: 70:50
- Sound: Mono, recorded 1930 & 1934
- Remastering: New 24-bit / 96kHz transfer from original masters
- Booklet notes: English, German and French
- Made in the E.U.
Overview
These are two of the great documents of twentieth-century violin playing. Bronisław Huberman's 1934 reading of the Beethoven concerto is the kind of recording people argue you have to hear — Gramophone said exactly that — incandescent, urgent, and entirely his own, with the Vienna Philharmonic under a young George Szell.
Huberman was a phenomenon. At thirteen he played for Brahms and left the composer in tears. He grew into one of the towering violinists of his era, but he was also a man of conscience: in the 1930s he rescued Jewish musicians from Nazi Germany and assembled them into the orchestra that became the Israel Philharmonic. That history sits behind every bar of this playing.
The disc is completed by the "Kreutzer" Sonata, recorded in 1930 with another legendary Polish-born musician, the pianist Ignaz Friedman. It's a meeting of two huge personalities, full of risk and rhetorical fire — the opposite of polite.
This Warner Classics edition presents both works in a fresh 24-bit remastering from the original masters. The sound is mono and of its period, but the transfers are clean, and the performances have lost none of their force.
Interesting Facts
- Gramophone magazine declared that one simply has to hear Huberman's blazing 1934 recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto.
- At the age of 13 Huberman so impressed Brahms with his playing that the composer was reportedly moved to tears.
- Beyond his playing, Huberman was a committed humanitarian who rescued musicians from Nazi Germany and founded the orchestra that became the Israel Philharmonic.
- The Violin Concerto is conducted by George Szell, then early in a career that would make him one of the most exacting conductors of the century.
- Huberman's partner in the "Kreutzer" Sonata is Ignaz Friedman, another Polish-born legend, remembered as one of the great pianists of the early recording era.
- The recordings, made in 1930 and 1934, were newly remastered in 24-bit / 96kHz from the original masters for this 2017 release.
Track Listing
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
- I. Allegro ma non troppo — 21:10
- II. Larghetto — 9:13
- III. Rondo. Allegro — 8:27
Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major "Kreutzer", Op. 47
- I. Adagio sostenuto – Presto — 10:46
- II. Andante con variazioni — 12:54
- III. Presto — 8:10
Publishers
Released by Warner Classics in 2017, catalogue 0190295895167. ℗ 1936 Parlophone Records Limited; remastered ℗ 2017 Parlophone Records Limited, a Warner Music Group company. Made in the E.U.
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