Szigeti Recital at USC (Remastered) Joseph Szigeti

• Arthur Honegger (1892 - 1955): Violin Sonata No.1 Introduction by Joseph Szigeti:
• 1 Honegger: Violin Sonata No.1 Introduction by Joseph Szigeti 01:11
• Violin Sonata No.1 in C Sharp Minor:
• 2 Honegger: Violin Sonata No.1 in C Sharp Minor: I. Andante sostenuto 06:49
• Violin Sonata No.1, II. Presto:
• 3 Honegger: Violin Sonata No.1, II. Presto 04:08
• VIolin Sonata No.1, III. Adagio:
• 4 Honegger: VIolin Sonata No.1, III. Adagio - Quasi allegro - Allegro assai - Adagio 08:19
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, Introducdtion by Joseph Szigeti:
• 5 Prokofiev: Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, Introducdtion by Joseph Szigeti 03:49
• Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, I. Moderato:
• 6 Prokofiev: Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, I. Moderato 05:26
• Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, II. Andante dolce:
• 7 Prokofiev: Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, II. Andante dolce 03:27
• Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, III. Con brio:
• 8 Prokofiev: Sonata for solo violin, Op.115, III. Con brio 04:02
• Ives Charles (1874 - 1954): Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', Introduction by Joseph Szigeti:
• 9 Charles: Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', Introduction by Joseph Szigeti 02:02
• Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', I. Allegro:
• 10 Charles: Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', I. Allegro - Allegro molto 02:13
• Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', II. Largo:
• 11 Charles: Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', II. Largo 05:53
• Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', III. Allegro:
• 12 Charles: Violin Sonata No.4 'Children's Day at the Camp Meeting', III. Allegro 01:53
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Violin Sonata No.2 in G, Introduction by Joseph Szigeti:
• 13 Ravel: Violin Sonata No.2 in G, Introduction by Joseph Szigeti 04:14
• Violin Sonata No.2 in G, I. Allegretto:
• 14 Ravel: Violin Sonata No.2 in G, I. Allegretto 08:42
• Violin Sonata No.2 in G, II. Blues:
• 15 Ravel: Violin Sonata No.2 in G, II. Blues: Moderato 05:40
• Violin Sonata No.2 in G, III. Prepetuum mobile:
• 16 Ravel: Violin Sonata No.2 in G, III. Prepetuum mobile: Allegro 04:27
• Total Runtime 01:12:15

Info for Szigeti Recital at USC (Remastered)

"This album presents a complete recital given by the master violinist Joseph Szigeti in the Hancock Auditorium at the University of Southern California on 13 January 1957. This concert originally formed the last of a series of three concerts featuring works by 20th-century composers entitled ‘Eleven Masterpieces of the Twentieth Century’, which Szigeti performed at numerous college campuses throughout the United States in the late 1950s. He described this three-part series was ‘an incentive to break with the “one-programme-each-season” type of concertizing that the organized audience movement demands.’ Acclaimed for his playing of the great classical masterworks, Szigeti was also an ardent champion of contemporary music. He made the first recordings of major violin pieces by Bartok, Stravinsky, Busoni, Hindemith, Cowell, Ives, Warlock, Webern and Bloch, and presents works by Honegger, Prokofiev, Ives and Ravel on this recital. Furthermore, this album includes Szigeti’s spoken introductions to each of the four works. Recorded after the violinist had retired, they provide an invaluable insight from one of the most eloquent and patrician musicians of the 20th century."

Joseph Szigeti, violin
Carlo Bussotti, piano

Digitally remastered

Joseph Szigeti
was a Hungarian virtuoso violinist.

Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with renowned pedagogue Jen? Hubay. After completing his studies with Hubay in his early teens, Szigeti began his international concert career. His concertizing at that time was primarily limited to salon-style recitals and the more overtly virtuosic repertoire; however, after making the acquaintance of pianist Ferruccio Busoni, he began to develop a much more thoughtful and intellectual approach to music that eventually earned him the nickname "The Scholarly Virtuoso".

Following a bout of tuberculosis which necessitated a stay in a sanatorium in Switzerland, Szigeti settled in Geneva where he became Professor of Violin at the local conservatory in 1917. It was in Geneva that he met his wife, Wanda Ostrowska, and at roughly the same time he became friends with the great composer Béla Bartók. Both relationships were to be lifelong.

From the 1920s until 1960, Szigeti performed regularly around the world and recorded extensively. He also distinguished himself as a strong advocate of new music, and was the dedicatee of many new works by contemporary composers. Among the more notable pieces written for him are Ernest Bloch's Violin Concerto, Bartók's Rhapsody No. 1, and Eugène Ysaÿe's Solo Sonata No. 1. He retired from the concert stage in 1960 and occupied himself with teaching and writing until his death in 1973, at the age of 80.

Booklet for Szigeti Recital at USC (Remastered)