DGG LP: BACH - Partitas for Solo Violin- MILSTEIN -1976

$

50

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Background for this eBay item -

Nathan Mironovich Milstein (January 13, 1904 [O.S. December 31, 1903]  – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.

Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period. He was also known for his long career: he performed at a high level into his mid 80s, retiring only after suffering a broken hand.

He was born in Odessa, then part of the Russian Empire (now in Ukraine), the fourth child of seven, to a middle-class Jewish family with virtually no musical background. It was a concert by the 11-year-old Jascha Heifetz that inspired his parents to make a violinist out of Milstein. As a child (of seven years old), he started violin studies (as suggested by his parents, to keep him out of mischief) with the eminent violin pedagogue Pyotr Stolyarsky, also the teacher of renowned violinist David Oistrakh.

When Milstein was 11, Leopold Auer invited him to become one of his students at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Milstein reminisced:

• Every little boy who had the dream of playing better than the other boy wanted to go to Auer. He was a very gifted man and a good teacher. I  used to go to the Conservatory twice a week for classes. I played every lesson with forty or fifty people sitting and listening. Two pianos were in the classroom and a pianist accompanied us. When Auer was sick, he would ask me to come to his home.

Milstein may in fact have been the last of the great Russian violinists to have had personal contact with Auer. Auer did not name Milstein in his memoirs but mentions "two boys from Odessa ... both of whom disappeared after I left St. Petersburg in June 1917." Neither is Milstein's name in the registry of the St Petersburg Conservatory.

Milstein also studied with Eugène Ysaÿe in Belgium. He told film-maker Christopher Nupen, director of Nathan Milstein – A Portrait, that he learned almost nothing from Ysaÿe but enjoyed his company enormously. In a 1977 interview printed in High Fidelity, he said, "I went to Ysaÿe in 1926 but he never paid any attention to me. I think it might have been better this way. I had to think for myself."

Milstein met Vladimir Horowitz and his pianist sister Regina in 1921 when he played a recital in Kiev. They invited him for tea at their parents' home. Milstein later said, "I came for tea and stayed three years." Milstein and Horowitz performed together, as "children of the revolution," throughout the Soviet Union and struck up a life-long friendship. In 1925, they went on a concert tour of Western Europe together.

He made his American debut in 1929 with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He eventually settled in New York and became an American citizen. He toured repeatedly throughout Europe, maintaining residences in London and Paris.

A transcriber and composer, Milstein arranged many works for violin and wrote his own cadenzas for many concertos. He was obsessed with articulating each note perfectly and would often spend long periods of time working out fingerings which would make passages sound more articulated. One of his best known compositions is Paganiniana, a set of variations on various themes from the works of Niccolò Paganini.

In 1948, his recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, with Bruno Walter conducting the New York Philharmonic, had the distinction of being the first catalogue item in Columbia's newly introduced long-playing twelve-inch 33 rpm vinyl records, Columbia ML 4001.

He was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France in 1968, and received a Grammy Award for his recording of Bach's sonatas and partitas in 1975. He was also awarded Kennedy Center honors by US President Ronald Reagan.

A recital he gave in Stockholm in July 1986 proved to be his final performance. This recital was recorded in its in entirety and shows the remarkable condition of his technique at age 82. A fall shortly afterwards in which he severely broke his right hand ended his career.

After playing many different violins in his earlier days, Milstein finally acquired the 1716 "Goldman" Stradivari in 1945 which he used for the rest of his life. He re-named this Stradivari the "Maria Teresa" in honour of his daughter Maria (presently wife of Marchese GiovanAngelo Theodoli-Braschi, Duke of Nemi and Grandee of Spain, descendant from Pope Pius VI) and his wife Therese. He also performed on the 1710 ex-"Dancla" Stradivarius for a short period.

During the late 1980s, Milstein published his memoirs, From Russia to the West, in which he discussed his life of constant performance and socializing. Milstein discusses the personalities of important composers such as Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Igor Stravinsky and conductors such as Arturo Toscanini and Leopold Stokowski, all of whom he knew personally. He also discusses his best friends, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and ballet director George Balanchine, as well as other violinists such as Fritz Kreisler and David Oistrakh. Milstein also expressed his generally conservative, strongly anti-communist and anti-Soviet political beliefs. Milstein said that President Kennedy was a weak leader, admired President Reagan, and stated that he refused to return to the Soviet Union, even for a tour sponsored by the United States.

Milstein was married twice, remaining married to his second wife, Therese, until his death. He died of a heart attack in London on December 21, 1992, just three weeks before his 89th birthday.

A very rare, long out of print audiophile LP title, this is a NEAR MINT German made LP, PRESSED and ISSUED by Deutsche Grammophon (DGG) RECORDS, of a highly collectible title from their catalog. Up for sale is a superb title featuring -

Nathan Milstein, violin

LP title and Music on this LP:

J. S. Bach: Partitas for Solo Violin -
Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006

Performers on this disc -

Nathan Milstein, violin

The LP is from the ultra-rare DGG series of out of print LPs.

• LP Features:
  • YELLOW record labels with RED lettering. The DGG logo is in BLUE.
  • Heavy vinyl pressing
  • Made in GERMANY, issued in 1976
  • STEREO pressing
  • Record speed: 33 1/3 rpm
• LP catalog / record Number: 2530 730

CONDITION Details:

LP JACKET:

• The LP jacket is in Near Mint minus condition.
  

• The jacket has NO seam splits - it is completely intact (amazing given the age of this disc).
  

• The  jacket shows just a bit of light shelf wear, primarily at the corners and seams.
  

• The jacket has NO drill holes or saw marks of any kind.

• There is NO hand writing on the front or back of the jacket.
  

• The cover has clean and sharp colors - see pictures with this listing for more detail. 

The LP (vinyl) itself:

• The LP is in NEAR MINT minus condition. - A finer copy of this vintage LP would be very hard to find.

  
  

  • The LP retains most of the original gloss and sheen!
    

  • The record has NO serious marks on it, obviously well taken care of.
    

  • The record labels have NO significant spindle marks on them.
    

  • This is the near mint copy you have always wanted in your collection - any super picky audiophile should be happy with this one!
    

  • This LP may have a slight mark or two (spider marks) which are caused by sliding the LP in and out of the inner sleeve and are usually not audible on most audio systems - as for any record, even brand new ones, for best results we recommend a thorough record cleaning before playing!

A Short Note About LP GRADING -

• Mint = Only used for sealed items.
• Near Mint = Virtually flawless in every way.
• Near Mint Minus = Item has some minor imperfections, some audible.
• Excellent = Item obviously played and enjoyed with some noise.
• Very Good Plus = Many more imperfections which are noticeable and obtrusive.

Some noise on vinyl is inevitable - for best results, always properly clean your LPs before playing them.  This LP is an audiophile quality pressing (any collector of fine MFSL, half speeds, direct to discs, Japanese/UK pressings etc., can attest to the difference a quality pressing can make to an audio system).

Don't let this rarity slip by!!