ENESCO: Bach Complete Sonatas / Partitas JAPAN MINT

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433

Columbia [Japan] DXM 128-30 AX (3LP mono)  J. S. Bach: Complete Sonatas & Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin - performed by Georges Enesco, violin

The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo recorded in 1948/1949 in New York were originally released by Don Gabor on his Continental label - Continental CLP 104/5/6.

From Japan there is the look alike reissue of the3 Lp Box with the same reference numbers CLP 104/105/106. The red velvet covered box is smaller in width and the labels are differently styled. The records are of the 180 gr. quality. However it is possible that a set is encountered of which the vinyl is rather vulnerable because of the chosen type. As with so many modern reissues the vinyl is of a different recipe and in some instances may not have been heated enough, through and through, because of the mass of vinyl which has to be pressed between the plates. One wonders why not the same type of vinyl was chosen as used by Philips, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon or Nippon Columbia in the nineteen seventies and eighties.

The 3 Lp set of Olympic Records (8117/3) from 1974 contain these complete performances of Bach's Three Sonatas and Three Partitas but after the transfer to tape they were electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo which was the fashion in the beginning of the stereo era of the Lp when companies were afraid that the public would not buy mono recordings any longer. Despite this electronic manipulation, the engineers, who literally spent hundreds of hours, did a remarkable job. They did not loose too much of the character of the violin as so often is the case nowadays when very old analog recordings are transferred into the digital domain and cleaned up too drastically. For the Olympic/Everest reissue the acetates were used as is apparent from the rumble and the slightly discernible surface noise. The liner notes of the Olympic set states: "This recording was made before the advent of modern tape technology."
These transfers were released in Japan by Nippon Columbia as a 3 Lp set with reference DXM-128-30-AX. The accompanying book was in Japanese only.