Grumiaux/Moralt: Mozart Violin Concerti Nos. 3 & 4 - Epic LC 3060

Jacket EX / LP NM

This lovely LP from Epic (LC 3060, US pressing yellow label, mono, glossy laminated jacket) – part of the label's 1956 Mozart Jubilee Edition – features Arthur Grumiaux's peerless readings of Mozart's Violin Concertos No. 3 in G Major K. 216 and No. 4 in D Major K. 218, accompanied by Rudolf Moralt* and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

*Note: On the jacket front the conductor is given as Bernhard Paumgartner, but this is not correct – the conductor was Rudolf Moralt, which is shown on the Philips’ editions of these recordings. On the labels of the LP itself, however, Rudof Moralt’s name is printed.

Both works were recorded in rich acoustics of the Grosser Saal in Vienna’s Musikverein on 23 November 1953, and this LP won the Grand Prix du Disque 'Academie Charles Cros'. These are classic accounts that have lost none of their freshness or appeal, the playing unfailingly natural and unerringly stylish, with beautifully balanced analog sound to boot, equalled only by Grumiaux himself in his stereo remakes with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra. Moralt was a superb Mozartian and these performances resonate in the memory long after the music stops – outstanding!

Wrote esteemed critic Rob Cowan in the November 2003 issue of The Gramophone:

"I was once told on good authority that Heifetz was a keen admirer of Grumiaux’s art, and little wonder. Like Heifetz, Grumiaux was a master of subtle shading, a disciplined stylist with a warm heart whose immaculate musicianship, silken tone and innate composure benefitted everything he played."

Incidentally, the striking cover art was designed by A.F. Arnold. There are fine liner notes on the reverse side of the jacket – in English – by Eugene Bruck.