Arri Bachrach in response to Peter Schenkman wrote:

>>I'm amazed that no one has mentioned the superb Szigeti recording from
>>1928 (Sir Hamilton Harty/Halle Orchestra)
>
>terrific recording- orchestra is remarkably good- Harty must have been a
>very fine conductor- Kreisler recorded the Brahms around the same time with
>an almost amateur sounding orchestra and less fidelity- could never figure
>out why Kreisler was not provided with a better orchestra-

This is the 1929 recording with Leo Blech and the Orchestra of the Berlin
State Opera, hardly aan amateur orchestra.  However, he did it again in
1936 with Barbirolli and the London Philharmonic.  I prefer the first one.

>>or even the remake with Ormandy in 1945.
>
>not as good- past his prime

Even past his prime Szigeti had more to say than most violinists in
their prime.  A good example is the Bach solo sonatas & partitas.  Indeed
one would wish that he had recorded them earlier but I wouldn't want to
be without them.  The same goes for the beautiful Mozart sonatas with
Horszowski (where the fragile tone almost becomes an asset) and the
Beethoven sonatas with Arrau (and yes, there is of course the G Major
with Schnabel from the thirties...)

Philip