Johanna Martzy (violin)
Live Concert Performances
rec. 1961-1974
Meloclassic MC2054 [69]

Johanna Martzy (1924-1979) was one of a group of female violinists whose careers peaked in the mid-to-late twentieth century. Ginette Neveu, Erica Morini, Gioconda de Vito and Ida Haendel have all remained favourites with collectors. Martzy, at the time of her early death in 1979 at the young age of fifty-four, had been largely forgotten. Thanks to the advocacy of far-eastern collectors, most notably the Japanese, she has now been elevated to cult status, with her LPs fetching large sums. Some years ago a six-CD set ‘The Art of Johanna Martzy’ emanated from Japan, and later a thirteen disc box of the complete recordings she made for DG and EMI was issued in Korea. Testament have made a valuable contribution, and Coup d’Archet issued five CDs of live recordings several years ago, long since deleted. Then there’s the 9 CD set of her Columbia Graphophone Recordings issued by Warner in 2022 (review).

Romanian by birth, Martzy took up the violin at the age of six, later becoming a student at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest. Her teacher was Jenő Hubay (1858-1937), the Hungarian violinist and composer, whose students included Szigeti, Telmányi, Székely, Geyer and Sándor Végh. She made her début at the age of thirteen and graduated from the Academy in 1942. In 1947 she won first prize in the Geneva Competition. Starting her recording career with DG, she was later brought under the wing of EMI by Walter Legge. Her commercial recorded legacy is relatively small and narrow. Likewise, her international career was short in comparison with others. In 1969 she married the wealthy Daniel Tschudi and thereafter seemed to lack the financial incentive to continue in an active role. She died in 1979 in relative obscurity.

This is the second release of live radio recordings Meloclassic have issued, the previous one being the Swiss Radio Broadcast Recordings 1947-1969 (review).

The Hungarian pianist István Hajdu was a regular accompanist of Johanna Martzy, and some of their fruitful collaborations can be found on the now defunct Coup d’Archet label. Here we have Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No 8 in G Major, Op 30, No 3 in a live recording from Venice dated 3 February 1969. It’s a sunny work and the opening movement is permeated with joy and warmth. There’s a hint of nostalgia in the central slow movement, whilst the finale is high-spirited and humorous. It’s a lovely performance, where both violinist and pianist sing off the same hymn sheet,

The live recording of the Mendelssohn Concerto was taped on 6 June 1961. The performance is both vital and engaging, and there’s no hanging around in this propulsive reading. Martzy’s tone is quite lean here, and her vibrato is fast and occasionally unyielding. Nevertheless, technical command and precision are a bonus. It’s a pity that the conductor Luciano Rosada is lacklustre in his direction of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della RAI. As for the audio quality, the recording sounds quite boxy with the orchestra recessed in the sound picture.

Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 4 in D Major, KV 218 was something of a favorite of the violinist. She was later to make a commercial recording of it with Eugen Jochum, which I would highly recommend. There’s another very fine studio recording made in in the SDR Villa Berg in 1956 with Hans Müller-Kray (review). The live version we have here was taped in Solothurn, Switzerland much later in May 1974. The chamber orchestra is conducted by Urs Joseph Flury, and we have it here courtesy of his personal collection. The rather cavernous acoustic does tend to soak up some of the detail, but it is interesting to note that in almost twenty years her interpretation remained somewhat constant. The slow movement is particularly notable for its expressive qualities, whilst the finale has a smiling and joyous expression.

Johanna Martzy is such an important violinist that these live airings are of significant documentary importance, and it’s thanks to Meloclassic that they have been preserved.

Stephen Greenbank

Contents
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No 8 in G Major, Op 30, No 3
István Hajdu (piano)
rec. live, 3 February 1969, Venice, Teatro La Fenice, RAI, Live Recording

Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op 64
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della RAI/Luciano Rosada
rec. live, 6 June 1961, Milan, Studio RAI

Wolfgang Mozart: Violin Concerto No 4 in D Major, KV 218
Solothurner Kammerorchester/Urs Joseph Flury
rec. live, 9 May 1974, Solothurn, Großer Konzertsaal, Flury Collection