Weinberg quartets and six-disc Szigeti
This month’s round-up also features José Iturbi and Bach masterworks
José Iturbi was once the toast of Hollywood and enjoyed a glittering career as a concert pianist, recording artist and conductor when he moved stateside from Spain in the late 1920s. From Hollywood to the World (Sony Classical 19439836502) is a lavish set of 16 discs of remastered recordings from 1933-53, originally made for RCA Victor. The programme is colourful, too, ranging from Mozart concertos to Gershwin, arrangements by André Previn, solo Debussy and Chopin, with Iturbi either at the piano or on the podium.
A rather shorter period is taken into account in Joseph Szigeti – The Mercury Masters (Eloquence 484 3756). The six-disc set covers the autumnal years of the Hungarian violinist’s acclaimed career, with London and New York recordings from 1959-61. Szigeti turned his bow to almost anything and the programme is typically varied, with concertos and sonatas by Brahms, Beethoven and Prokofiev topped off by a disc featuring Honegger, Webern, Debussy and Ives. Original jacket art is a welcome touch for this collection, which is on CD for the first time. Katowice’s Silesian String Quartet was rather ahead of the game when it released its first survey of Mieczysław Weinberg’s chamber works in 2016. Since then, the classical world has cottoned on to the Polish composer (1919-96) who found his voice in the former Soviet Union. Complete String Quartets (CD Accord ACD32) brings together all seven of the ensemble’s recordings in the series, which was completed just last year. The 17 string quartets, plus the Piano Quintet, are beautifully presented and make for a must-hear package.
Just as appealing is Channel Classics’s knockout and ultra-polished Bach set (Channel Classics CCSBOX7523). It features each of JS Bach’s major choral masterpieces, recorded and released by the label between 2003-11. Jos van Veldhoven’s brilliant Netherlands Bach Society do the honours in front of the microphones, breathing magical life into the St John Passion, Magnificat, Mass in B minor, St Matthew Passion and Christmas Oratorio – great performances, brought together in one set.
The Hungarian Joseph Szigeti turned his bow to almost anything