Nardini: Violin Concerto in E minor

Ravel: Tzigane

Schumann: Violin Concerto in D minor, WoO 23

Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 4 in D, Op. 31

Among the great violinists of the 20th century, Henryk Szeryng (1918-1988) was once regarded as a supreme master, but has now faded from memory. Szeryng‘s fame is not comparable to that of Jascha Heifetz, David Oistrakh, Nathan Milstein or Yehudi Menuhin, although he was often mentioned along with them.
No question, his performances set standards, the major record companies vied for his favor, and he was a popular guest at major orchestras throughout the world. In the great concertos by Beethoven and Brahms, he was considered authority and even today, remains for Hilary Hahn, a preeminent Bach interpreter.
Henryk Szeryng performed in Germany regularly over the decades. In 1955 Szeryng played with the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks under the direction of the legendary conductor Hans Rosbaud. These live recordings of a Romantically-edited version of Nardini‘s E Minor Concerto and the popular fourth concerto by Vieuxtemps was followed in March 1957 by studio recordings of Ravel's "Tzigane" and the Robert Schumann‘s Violin Concerto. Szeryng had a very special sympathy for this neglected score that his heard in one of his first recordings of it. Szeryng was the first major violinist after Kulenkampff and Menuhin to recognize the value of this grandiose masterpiece and it play publicly.

“In the mid-1950s Szerzyng was at his peak, and his tonal purity captivates throughout. He never recorded commercially the Nardini and Vieuxtemps heard here.” BBC Music Magazine