Henryk Szeryng (violin)
Rediscovered
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Violin Concerto No 2 in B major, Sz.112 (1938)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor, BWV 1041 (c.1730)
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Violin Concerto No 2 in A minor, Op 61 (1933)
Benjamin Lees (2024-2010)
Violin Concerto in C (1958)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op 77 (1878)
Radio Filharmonisch Orkest/Willem van Otterloo (Bartók)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Ernest Ansermet (Bach, Szymanowski)
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Erich Leinsdorf (Lees)
Vienna Symphony Orchestra/Wolfgang Sawallich (Brahms)
rec. 1962-67
RHINE CLASSICS RH-027 [74 + 67]
Despite a substantial Szeryng discography, here are some more live airings, set down between 1962 and 1967, which further bolster the listings. For me, anything by Henryk Szeryng (1918-1988) is of interest. He was one of the twentieth century’s greatest violinists, a musical aristocrat with superb polished technique and a phenomenal intellect.
The earliest recording here is the Bartók Violin Concerto No 2, a live airing from 25 June 1962. The orchestra is the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest with Willem van Otterloo wielding the baton. The Concerto is a great favorite of mine, and this performance is one of the finest I’ve come across. Szeryng’s muscular tone serves the work well. He also commands a colour range ideally suited to a canvas such as this. There’s so much intensity and passion here, alongside passages of haunting lyricism. Particularly striking is the second movement imbued with fragile beauty and dreamy trances. Van Otterloo provides admirable support. The performance also benefits from a perfect balance between soloist and orchestra.
Ernest Ansermet accompanied Szeryng in two violin concertos, Bach No 1 and Szymanowski No 2, in the Victoria Hall, Geneva on 9 October 1963. The Bach is a stodgy affair, marred by sluggish tempi in the outer movements. Though, the central Andante fares much better, with the violin line sweetly spun and expressively contoured.
Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No 2 was written as a result of a request by Polish violinist Paul Kochański. Begun in August 1932, it was completed in September the following year. Kochański premiered the work in Warsaw on 6 October 1933. He also provided a first movement cadenza which Szeryng uses in this performance. The Second Concerto is more rugged and rough-textured than its predecessor, with a nod to Polish folk music. Both soloist and conductor maintain a palpable tension and drama throughout. Szeryng’s heady and bold account places this wonderful performance alongside my favorite by Wanda Wilkomirska.
Benjamin Lees’ Concerto was written over eight months in 1958. His task completed, he had no one to play it. It was left to Henryk Szeryng to resurrect it five years later. Here it receives its world premiere on 8 November 1963 in Boston, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf. Stretching the virtuoso’s technique to the limit, Szeryng declared it “the most difficult piece I’ve ever tackled”. Unconventional in form, it opens with two slow movements, brooding in nature, followed by a fast one. It begins with grim starkness, very reminiscent of Shostakovich. Isolation and chill permeate the landscape. The soloist is kept busy throughout. More lyrically generous, the second movement marked Adagio, is disconsolate and unforgiving, with much underlying pain. Only in the finale is the tempo ratcheted up. Spiky and angular, it requires gusto, verve and vigour from the soloist, and Szeryng rises to the challenge admirably. The orchestra play with stunning precision and panache.
The Szeryng discography lists numerous performances and CD issues of the Brahms Violin Concerto. This one was taped at the United Nations in New York in October 1967. Wolfgang Sawallich, who directs the Vienna Symphony, establishes a well-paced tempo from the start. The fact that there’s no over-romanticizing is a positive. The opening movement has patrician nobility and long flowing gestures. Szeryng plays the Joachim cadenza. In the slow movement the oboe solo beguiles. The soloist employs some seductive and long flowing phrasing. The finale is a virtuosic tour-de-force, zestful and delivered with rhythmic punch. It’s a riveting performance, followed by some enthusiastic applause.
The recordings have been excellently restored. The Benjamin Lees Concerto is especially of interest to me, as I didn’t know the work at all.
Stephen Greenbank
Previous review: Jonathan Woolf
Performance details
25 June 1962, live, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (Bartók); 9 October 1963, live, Victoria Hall, Geneva (Bach, Szymanowski): 8 February 1963, live, Symphony Hall, Boston (Lees): 24 October 1967, live, UN General Assembly Hall, New York (Brahms)
