Arpeggione
New Head-Fier
The Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu (Georges Enesco in French) recorded the Bach Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin in 1949 for the obscure US label Continental. The box in red velvet cloth (if that’s proper English) is Continental CLP-104/105/106, three mono LPs. Recording technique was reel-to-reel magnetic tape of course. Pressings are awful.
This box is exceedingly rare and a holy grail within classical record collecting. I have a Japanese CD-duo with transfers from these LPs, the closest I will ever get to the LPs. I find Enescu’s tone and playing absolutely wonderful, even touching, despite both the sound and particularly his technique are far beyond usual standards.
One guy with extremely expensive and highly resolving hifi gear once told me that he can barely listen to Enescu playing. At the time of these recordings, Enescu suffered from very painful and deforming arthritis but had to make the recordings anyhow, maybe for financial reasons. This guy, a music reviewer and collector with just the cartridge at $12,000, could ”hear” the physical pain in Enescu’s playing. At least he said so. Enescu was 68 at the time, and to die six years later.
So. How much is it? The original Continental set can reach the $7,000 mark depending on condition etc, down to around half that.
Beware of reissues and fakes! There are some very fishy Continental sets out there. And the master tapes? Nobody knows as far as I know.
Here you can painlessly listen to these gems of recording history for free:
Enescu – Sonata No 1 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Partita No 1 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Sonata No 2 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Partita No 2 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Sonata No 3 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Partita No 3 for Violin Solo (Bach)
This box is exceedingly rare and a holy grail within classical record collecting. I have a Japanese CD-duo with transfers from these LPs, the closest I will ever get to the LPs. I find Enescu’s tone and playing absolutely wonderful, even touching, despite both the sound and particularly his technique are far beyond usual standards.
One guy with extremely expensive and highly resolving hifi gear once told me that he can barely listen to Enescu playing. At the time of these recordings, Enescu suffered from very painful and deforming arthritis but had to make the recordings anyhow, maybe for financial reasons. This guy, a music reviewer and collector with just the cartridge at $12,000, could ”hear” the physical pain in Enescu’s playing. At least he said so. Enescu was 68 at the time, and to die six years later.
So. How much is it? The original Continental set can reach the $7,000 mark depending on condition etc, down to around half that.
Beware of reissues and fakes! There are some very fishy Continental sets out there. And the master tapes? Nobody knows as far as I know.
Here you can painlessly listen to these gems of recording history for free:
Enescu – Sonata No 1 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Partita No 1 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Sonata No 2 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Partita No 2 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Sonata No 3 for Violin Solo (Bach)
Enescu – Partita No 3 for Violin Solo (Bach)
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