Fleeing the antisemitism that was spreading across Europe, violinist Henryk Szeryng gained Mexican citizenship after the Second World War. He was born in Warsaw in 1918 (not Chopin’s birthplace Żelazowa Wola, as is often stated) and studied under Carl Flesch in Berlin before working with Jacques Thibaud and Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Fluent in seven languages, Szeryng also worked during the war as an interpreter for the Polish government in exile.
Regarded as one of the best violinists of his time, his stardom began to fade after he died in 1988, though his recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin for Deutsche Grammophon went down in history, especially among violinists and Hilary Hahn in particular.
Henryk Szeryng has always been consistent. His sober performances and accurate intonation are truly captivating. This ensemble – which lasts more than 5 ½ hours – presents concertos recorded for the German radio SWR between 1956 and 1984 with a sound quality that’s close to a studio recording. It incluced most of his repertoire with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Lalo, Brahms, Sibelius and Berg. There’s also Schumann’s lesser-known Concerto in D minor (Szeryng was among the first to explore the piece) and a stunning version of his compatriot Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2.
While it’s mostly Ernest Bour holding the conductor’s baton, the various SWR orchestras are also conducted by Karl Ristenpart, Paul Sacher and Stanisław Skrowaczewski. © François Hudry/Qobuz