Joseph Szigeti was in his early 60s when he recorded Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas in 1955/56 for the Bach Guild. Though past his technical prime, Szigeti’s artistry and musicianship communicate on many levels. It’s not difficult to listen through moments of raspy bowing or tremulous intonation to perceive the wealth of rhythmic sophistication and inflections of tone, articulation, and phrase that give these performances awesome textural and emotional variety. He generates excitement in quicker movements like the G minor sonata’s Presto, E major partita’s Preludio, and B minor partita’s Double not through speed alone but rather through phrase groupings and strategic accents that keep his steady tempos from lapsing into predictable, metronomic patterns. Szigeti does this to even more elaborate and spiritual effect in his spacious treatment of the Allemandes, most of the huge C major sonata, and of course, in the imposing D minor Chaconne.
To give widely spaced intervals their maximum impact, Szigeti often allows them a little more time, and he uses dynamic gradations to ensure pivotal harmonic moments their fullest due, like the haunting trills in sixths that conclude the A minor sonata’s opening Grave. In the same sonata’s Andante, Szigeti sounds like two distinct violinists, one playing the eighth-note accompaniment at a steady, hushed level, the other virtually orchestrating the melody in specific points of color and accent.
Of course there are other ways to play this music, and some listeners may prefer suaver, more elegant technicians such as Arthur Grumiaux, whose classic 1962 Philips traversals appeared concurrently with the Szigeti set’s initial LP release. With Szigeti, however, each rehearing brings something new to my appreciation of these inexhaustible works. The mono sonics haven’t aged a bit, despite several noticeable ambient changes that betray splice points. Essential listening.
