Johanna Martzy, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR & Gunter Wand Brahms Violin Concertos Nos.3 & 4

180g Audiophile Virgin Vinyl Pressed at Pallas in Germany!
Cut at Emil Berliner Studio and Mastered from the Original Master Tapes of SWR Music!
Johanna Martzy is one of the greatest violinist of the 20th century alongside the likes of Ida Haendel, Ginette Neveu, Erica Morini and more. There are primarily two factors causing her posthumous reputation to lag behind her true standing: her international career was relatively brief and the repertoire she performed was and remained very narrow. However, the recordings we still have from her testify to a violinist and musician of the highest class who was not possessed by a demon compelling her to provide the world with as extravagant an interpretation as possible, but with unleashed verve, inspired articulation and perfectly clear control as a devoted medium of musical energies.
Johanna Martzy (1924-1979) is considered one of the most underrated violinists of her time, as the great Glenn Gould also confirmed. Trained at the renowned 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. The extraordinary talent of the Hungarian, whose career began early and was marked by all kinds of low blows in addition to great ovations before she died almost unnoticed at the age of only 55, was evident in the few commercial recordings she made. All recordings were made in their heyday, and most of them achieved cult status after their short careers. The recording from the archives of the SWR – "Brahms – Violin Concerto", with the conductor Günter Wand and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra of the SWR, is no exception. The well-known conductor and music critic Christoph Schlüren writes: "Johanna Martzy is one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, along with Ida Haendel, Ginette Neveu, Erica Morini and Gioconda De Vito. The recordings we still have of her testify to a violinist and musician of the highest order, who was possessed not by a demon who forced her to give the world the most extravagant interpretation possible, but of an unbridled vivacity, inspired articulation and perfectly clear control as a devoted medium of musical energies. It is particularly instructive to listen to the exciting live concert recordings from Stuttgart with Günter Wand (1964) after the grandiose studio recordings of the concertos by (Mendelssohn and) Brahms and to recognize what a phenomenal violinist Johanna Martzy was: without any self-promotion or presumption, always authentic, full of empathy and with an exquisite, cultivated taste."
It is particularly instructive, following the terrific studio recordings of the concertos by Brahms, to hear the exciting live concert recordings made in Stuttgart with Gunter Ward and appreciate what a phenomenal violinist Johanna Martzy was, without any thought of grandstanding or pretension, always authentic, fully emphatic and with a select, cultivated taste. - from liner notes by Christoph Schluren.
The renowned South Korean label Analogphonic is now making this wonderful recording available as an LP release for the first time. Analogphonic commissioned Rainer Maillard and Emil Berliner Studios with the analogue processing of the master tapes. The audiophile remastering does justice to the outstanding musical quality of the recording in all respects and sets new standards in terms of sound! The vinyl release of "Johanna Martzy: Brahms – Violin Concerto" was pressed on high-quality 180-gram vinyl (33 rpm) by Pallas Group GmbH in Germany.

Features:

• 180g Audiophile Virgin Vinyl
• Cut to lacquers at Emil Berliner Studio
• Mastered from the original master tapes of SWR archives
• Audiophile full analogue mastering by Rainer Maillard
• Analogphonic release
• Pressed at Pallas Gmbh in Germany

Musicians:

• Johanna Martzy, violin
• Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart of the SWR
• Gunter Wand, conductor

Selections:

Side A
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.77
1. Allegro Non Troppo
Side B
1. Adagio
2. Allegro Giocoso, Ma Non Troppo Vivace - Poco Piu Presto

Recorded on 6 February 1964 at Liederhalle Stuttgart, Germany