|
This CD brings to the catalog, for the first time, superb
performances by two leading twentieth century artists. Henryk Szeryng was
the most cosmopolitan violinist of his generation. Born in 1918 near
Warsaw, he knew Paderewski and Huberman as friends of his parents. By the
time Szeryng was 15 years old he was touring, though he continued to study with,
among others, Jacques Thibaud. Settling in Mexico after WW2, Szeryng began
to tour with Artur Rubinstein. In 1956 Szeryng became official cultural
ambassador for the Mexican government, while simultaneously pursuing a career in
which he came to be regarded as one of the greatest violinists of his era.
Gary Graffman was born in 1928. Graduating from Curtis in 1946, he won the
Rachmaninoff Prize, making his debut the following year with Eugene Ormandy and
the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1949 Graffman won the Leventritt Award,
after which he toured throughout the world until a right hand injury in 1979
slowed a major career. These excellent performances from 1970 and 1971
were captured in very good sound at the Library of Congress, and are the first
of two Szeryng/Graffman discs that Bridge will be releasing. At the time
of these concerts, critic Irving Lowens in the Washington Evening Star
raved about these performances, comparing them favorably to the legendary
concerts given in the same hall by the Busch/Serkin duo. Notes by Tully
Potter and a series of rare photographs complete this historic release.
|