Sándor Végh Bach Solo Violin Sonatas & Partitas Telefunken German Audiophile LPs

$

60

Sándor Végh Bach Solo Violin Telefunken German Audiophile LPs

Three-LP set Telefunken 6.35344 (1971) pressed in Germany

Here we have on offer a very nice set of violinist Sándor Végh’s legendary (and rare) 1971 Valois/Telefunken LP recordings of J.S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin, 3-LP set Telefunken 6.35344, on very nice German pressings.

Sándor Végh was, to say the least, a “musician’s musician” (he was a student of Zoltán Kodály’s and a colleague of Richard Strauss’ and Béla Bartók’s). I think that it is also fair to say that in the United States Végh was almost unknown, especially as a solo player and not a quartet leader. E.g., Arkivmusic.com shows 13 listings for Végh CDs or sets, and all of them are chamber music. These solo Bach performances are currently not in print on CD in the US market.

From Arkivmusic.com:

Biography

Born: May 17, 1912, Klausenburg. Died: January 7, 1997, Feilassing.

Sándor Végh was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century. He began studying piano at the age of six. He entered the Budapest Conservatory in 1924, taking violin studies with Jeno Hubay and composition under Zoltán Kodály. He began a career as a solo violinist, and in 1927 played a Richard Strauss composition under the composer’s baton. He graduated from the Conservatory in 1930, having won the Hubay Prize and the Reményi Prize from the institution in 1927. As his solo career was developing, he joined the Hungarian Trio, with Ilonka Krauss and Laszlo Vencze.

In 1934 he became one of the founder-members of the Hungarian String Quartet. He was initially the first violin, but gave that position to Zoltán Szekeley and took second chair. He participated with the Hungarian String Quartet in the first performance of Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 (1936).

Végh left the Hungarian Quartet in 1940 to found his own quartet, the Végh String Quartet. During the same season, he became a professor at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He and the Quartet left Hungary in 1946. The Quartet continued to give concerts until the mid-1970s; Végh also made solo appearances as a violinist. He took French citizenship in 1953.

This particular set is the fifth item I am offering from a collection of approximately 2,000 classical LPs in singles and boxed sets that has been donated to our community library. Other items to follow. If you have particular “wants” (especially opera boxes) please let me know. The collection dates back to the early 1950s and is long on European rarities—I will shortly put up as one bulk lot 15 European 10-inch LPs and two 45-rpm classical EPs! As far as I can determine, the music lover who assembled this collection might have been a US armed-forces service member stationed in Europe after the Second World War.

I think that this intriguing set is in some ways the other bookend to Szigeti’s Vanguard set: Both sets were recorded by musicians of great intellect who were given to broad-ranging musical explorations. It is also almost unarguable to state that both sets were recorded when the artists were in their twilight years, and past their prime in terms of technical execution.

But the shortcomings in violin technique Szigeti had to overcome to make his musical points in 1955 and 1956, as compared to his recordings from the 1920s or as early as 1908(!) have not thrown a wet blanket over the selling prices of his Vanguard set. The same seems to be true for Végh’s Bach set.

Popsike says the Végh /Telefunken median is $104 and that its mean is $101, with an outlier at $202. The French-market Valois version, in stark contrast, changes hands only for substantial coinage: median $205, mean $285, and an outlier out in its Own Private Idaho at $2,425.00. (Take a deep breath. I report, you decide.) This is a no-reserve auction.

NOTES ON CONDITION AND DISCOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

I am selling this set to benefit the Knight Memorial Library in the North Elmwood neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. The Friends of Knight Memorial Library have an inventory of approximately 4,000 used books, etc. for sale. Individuals donated many items such as this one, and so they are not “ex-library.”

To restate, this is NOT an ex-library item; it does not have a card pocket, library stamps or embossings, or a discard stamp. This set is one of the absolute “picks of the litter” of a music collection of approximately 1,300 items.

Of course, these photos are of the actual set for sale. Please examine the photos carefully.

As you can tell just by looking at the photos, at some point, this set was “cut out” at the spine by a record store or distributor, and also, the cover bears a price sticker from a used record store in Providence, Rhode Island. I am not going to try to remove the price sticker and risk making things worse. These records are in I think very good shape, but will benefit from a careful washing by their new owner. There is some paper dust from the sleeves and also from the cut. There also is a split in the outer side of the cover, as shown in the photos.

I believe that there was only one pressing of this Telefunken set and therefore I am not going to list stamper numbers, as I have for the first three of this new round of benefit auctions. My guess is that this set was a commercial flop in the US, especially because Nathan Milstein’s 1973 DG set showed that he had preserved his technique into his golden years remarkably well.

By the way, please check out my recent and upcoming auctions! We will be putting up, from the same donated collection: the Vanguard Szigeti/Arrau Beethoven Violin Sonatas 4-LP set and some other very choice items including Rosalyn Tureck’s complete Decca Bach “Well-Tempered Clavier” (DX 127/128, 2 x 3-LP boxed sets), the Szigeti Vanguard Bach Guild solo-violin Bach set, Rudolph Koelman’s rare d-minor Partita, etc. single LP recital (my hat is off to this collector!), and Artur Schnabel’s complete Beethoven sonata and concerto Angel deluxe slipcase sets, also in very nice shape.

PAYMENT AND SHIPPING

Insured US shipping in a Bags Unlimited 13 x 13 x 3 inch high-quality reusable LP mailing box will be $24, not $4. Please wait for my invoice. Foreign shipping will be billed at cost plus the cost of the box. We absolutely will not ship anywhere without insurance and door-to-door tracking and delivery confirmation. We realize that this may mean that shipping to foreign countries may therefore be prohibitively expensive.

After deducting eBay and Paypal charges and shipping costs, 100% of the net proceeds of this sale will support the programs of the Knight Memorial Library. That’s because the Friends group is run entirely by unpaid (but relentlessly cheerful) volunteers.

WHO IS THE RIGHT BUYER FOR THIS ITEM?

I would never say that this should be someone’s first or only set of Bach solo-violin Sonatas and Partitas. But for the slightly adventurous classical maven and especially someone who loves violins as much as LPs, here’s a chance to acquire some truly individual interpretations that are currently not in print on CD at what I expect to be a reasonable price in view of the cut-out cut.

And when you look at what Popsike says the French-market LPs go for, all one can say is <<Ooh la la.>>

This is a no-reserve auction. If there is only one bidder, the marketplace is saying that it’s your lucky day. If there are two bidders: Please have at it for a good cause.

I think that that just about covers it.

THE FINE PRINT

Please pay within 3 days. PayPal only. I never go around behind eBay. In view of the totality of the circumstances this sale will be final, and there will be no returns or refunds.

Any question, please ask.

Please keep in mind that your purchase helps make important community-library programs possible!

All the best,

John Marks

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