Schubert d 574 Mulova

Johanna Martzy (1924-1979) became a cult figure on the basis of a handful of recordings – but only after her premature death, an event that passed almost unnoticed. The meteoric career of this distinguished ambassadress of the Hungarian violin school in no way foretold her posthumous idolisation. And yet her historic recordings of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas and stunning readings of Schubert’s complete works for violin and piano, together with a few first-class concerto discs, make up a legacy whose scarcity has driven prices sky high. At last, collectors can stop trying to outbid one another: remastered in high definition from the original tapes, this priceless treasure trove is now available to all.

Carolin Widmann, who received praise and awards both for her accounts of Schumann’s violin sonatas and for the recital disc “Phantasy of Spring” (with music of Feldman, Zimmermann, Schoenberg and Xenakis) now applies her acute interpretive sensibilities to Franz Schubert. Widmann and Alexander Lonquich (whose own New Series disc with music of Schumann and Holliger was also a critical success) play the C-Major fantasy of 1827 and the Violin Sonata in A of 1817, as well as the B minor Rondo of 1826 (the only one of these works published in Schubert’s lifetime). This is duo playing at a very high level, as Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich emphasizes in the liner notes.

Carl Seemann's Complete Deutsche Grammophon Recordings box set features recordings with Fritz Lehmann, Berliner Philharmoniker, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Bamberger Symphoniker, Mnchner Philharmoniker, Ferdinand Leitner and many more. Highlights include his celebrated Mozart records on 11 CDs and his famous Beethoven and Brahms duo recordings with violinist Wolfgang Schneider.

SCHUBERT: SONGS WITHOUT WORDS is an elegant recital by pianist Daria Hovora and cellist Mischa Maisky that allows us to hear Schubert songs, beautifully rich as they are with the texts as sung by many of our finest singers, here solely for the instrumental line. Somehow the interplay between melody and accompaniment (always an equal partnership in Schubert's hands) is heightened by this experience. Not that the entire album is appropriated by the cello standing in for a vocalist: the opening work is "Sonata for Arpeggione and Klavier" and is one of the highlights of the CD. But just listen to the performances of 'Standchen', 'An die Musik' and 'Du bist die Ruhe' and hear the extraordinary marriage between the piano and cello, singing as beautifully as any other version. This is one of those CDs that bears keeping out for multiple listenings in the late evening.