While it may send ideologically committed period instrument fans screaming into the night, this compilation of Baroque violin works played by the great Hungarian violinist
Joseph Szigeti will delight fans of virtuoso violin playing. True,
Szigeti's tone was leaner and his intonation was less piercing than most of his contemporaries, but for period instrument fans, his vibrato, his rubato, and, most of all his overt emotionality will put his performances beyond the pale. But
Szigeti's poetic beauty, his philosophical intensity, and, above all, his unsurpassed concentration will thrill anyone who can put ideological preconceptions aside and just listen to the music. At his best in the 1954 recording of
Bach's C major Sonata for solo violin -- listen to the spirituality of his Adagio and the clarity of his Fuga --
Szigeti's performance bears comparison with the greatest ever recorded. And even at his worst in the 1954 recordings of
Tartini's D minor Concerto and
Bach's G minor Violin Concerto -- listen to the dragging tempos and thick textures -- the responsibility is more the oddly obdurate
George Szell's than it is
Szigeti's. When the
Cleveland Orchestra string's accompaniment is reduced to a pizzicato accompaniment in
Bach's central Largo, however,
Szigeti takes flight in an achingly beautiful performance. David Hermann's transfers are regrettably gray and dim, but, given the age of originals, this is entirely understandable.