Arensky: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32

Bach, J S: Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043

                 Three-part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 4 in D minor, BWV790

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

                    Serenade for string trio in D major, Op. 8

                    String Trio in D major, Op. 9 No. 2

                    Piano Trio No. 1 in Eb major, Op. 1 No. 1

                    Piano Trio No. 6 in E flat Major, Op. 70 No. 2

                    Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer'

Benjamin, A: Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola & Orchestra

Bloch, E: Nigun (Baal Shem No. 2)

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77

              Double Concerto for Violin & Cello in A minor, Op. 102

              Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87

              String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36

              String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

            Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46

Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Sea Murmurs

Debussy: Trois chansons de Bilitis

               Golliwog's Cakewalk (from Children's Corner)

               Beau Soir

               La plus que lente

               Préludes - Book 1: No. 8, La fille aux cheveux de lin

Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65 (B130)

              Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 (B166) 'Dumky'

              Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81

Falla: Nana (No. 5 from Siete canciones populares españolas)

          Jota (No. 4 from Siete canciones populares españolas)

Ferguson, H: Violin Sonata No. 1

Franck, C: Violin Sonata in A major

Gershwin: Preludes (3)

                 Porgy and Bess (medley)

Glazunov: Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82

Glière: No. 1 from Eight Pieces for Violin & Cello Op. 39

Ibert: Le petit âne blanc (from Histoires)

Kodály: Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7

Korngold: Garden scene

Kreisler: La Chasse (The Hunt) in the style of Jean-Baptiste Cartier

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64

                       Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66

                       Octet in E flat major, Op. 20

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola & Orchestra in E flat major, K364

             Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K218

             Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K219 'Turkish'

             String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K515

             String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K516

Poulenc: Trois Mouvements perpétuels

Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63

                  The Love for Three Oranges: March

Rachmaninov: Étude-Tableau, Op. 33 No. 4 in A minor

                       Oriental Sketch (1917)

                       Daisies, Op. 38 No. 3

Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales

           Tzigane

Rozsa: Violin Concerto, Op. 24

            Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Cello & Orchestra, Op. 29

            Theme and Variations for Violin, Cello & Orchestra, Op. 29a

Saint-Saëns: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75

Schubert: String Trio in B flat major, D581

                 Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, D929

                 String Quintet in C major, D956

                 Fantasie in C major for violin and piano, D934

Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

Spohr: Double String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 65 (String Octet)

Strauss, R: Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op. 18

Stravinsky: Suite italienne

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35

                      Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70

Toch: Divertimento for violin and cello, Op. 37 No. 2

Turina: Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 35

Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor, Op. 37

Vivaldi: Concerto for Violin & Cello in B flat minor, RV 547

Wieniawski: Capriccio Valse in E major, Op. 7

Jascha Heifetz has been called the first and greatest of all virtuosos. Critics agree when RCA Victor once dubbed him “The Violinist of the Century”. Now all of Heifetz’s stereo recordings are being issued together in a single Sony Classical box of 24 CDs, coupled by composer and remastered from the original analogue tapes in 24-bit / 192 kHz and DSD quality. Heifetz authority John Maltese provides a new introductory essay.

Less than two weeks after his sensational US debut at Carnegie Hall, a 16-year-old Russian émigré named Jascha Heifetz – protégé of the legendary St. Petersburg violin teacher Leopold Auer and already acclaimed in Europe – made his first Victor recordings. Some 40 years later he began re-recording much of the mainstream violin repertoire for RCA Victor in stereo. These performances “find Heifetz at his most intense and glowing,” wrote Gramophone in its March 1988 obituary, “and their continued release on CD is building up a stunning three-dimensional sound-picture of Heifetz at his peak.”
In warhorses like the Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius concertos, his stereo LPs set new standards. Reviewing a previous reissue, ClassicsToday exclaimed: “Heifetz and Munch play the [Beethoven] with a classical poise and chiseled perfection. It goes without saying that Heifetz’s flawless intonation and ear-catching articulation leave most other players in the shade. As for the Mendelssohn, this is simply the greatest performance yet recorded. The work was made for Heifetz: Mendelssohn was himself a romantic of classical restraint and created a virtuoso showpiece that requires total control over the instrument.” Another typical Heifetz review, this time from Fanfare on his Bruch and Vieuxtemps: “There was simply no one who could play this florid Romantic music like Heifetz … This is the finest recording of Bruch’s masterpieces ever made in terms of both performance and sound.” As the Gramophone obituary also noted, it is doubtful if any other international soloist lavished so much time and energy on chamber music, notably in the concerts and recordings with cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, which began in 1961 and are documented in this collection. Heifetz’s repertoire also featured a vast array of show-stopping virtuoso pieces and his own brilliantly effective transcriptions. Those are also generously represented in this box set.
The great violinist’s last “session” was a live recording of his last public performance, on 23 October 1972 in Los Angeles. Here it is complete on two CDs. Critic Tim Page has written that “the program – in both its planning and its execution – was not markedly different from one Heifetz might have offered decades before. From the beginning of the Franck Sonata – rapt, centered, directly linear in its phrasing, immaculately aristocratic in its bearing – there can be no mistaking the artist … There is something noble about Heifetz’s constancy. Few performing artirests have exercised such meticulous control over their creative lives.”