Mintz: Bach Violin Sonatas & Partitas - DG 413 810-1 (DDD) (3LP box set)

Box NM / LPs NM-

This rare and lovely 3LP box set from Deutsche Grammophon (413 810-1, German pressing, white circle label, DDD stereo, booklet included) features Shlomo Mintz’s masterly survey of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin BWV 1001-1006.  First issued in 1984, the original set enjoyed but a short shelf-life, both in its LP and CD incarnations, though it has since been reissued once in DG’s Gold Masters CD series.  Comparisons with the most widely celebrated cycle of the digital era – Perlman’s – are not all to Mintz’s disadvantage. 

Indeed, Mintz has acquitted himself as a player of the very highest order with brilliant renditions of the two Prokofiev concerti with Claudio Abbado and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as sterling accounts of the concertos by Brahms (Abbado/BPO), Beethoven (Sinopoli/Philharmonia), Sibelius (Levine/BPO) and numerous chamber recitals, including the Sonatas of Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Faure, and Franck. 

A great pity Mintz was cut from the DG roster – he never made a bad record for them, and in fact, his discography with the yellow label is as distinguished as any violinists’ in the digital age, or before.

His Bach Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas are spacious in their conception, the architecture of each work superbly realized in sound of demonstration quality.  Really, his readings are truly exceptional. 

Included then are the following works of J.S. Bach:

Sonata No. 1 for Solo Violin in G minor BWV 1001

Partita No. 1 for Solo Violin in B minor BWV 1002

Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin in A minor BWV 1003

Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin in D minor BWV 1004

Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin in C Major BWV 1005

Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin in E Major BWV 1006

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Wrote the erudite critic Ted Libby in his book The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection:

“Mintz’s recording, released in 1984, offers the set on three discs rather than two, each disc pairing a sonata with a partita. These are commanding accounts, showing exceptional musicality and depth, and lacking, if anything, just a touch of lightness and variety of color. The control of tone, amplitude, and intonation, is extraordinary, yet the approach is never showy or self-conscious. Judging from differences in ambience and image, the readings may have been recorded at several different sessions, though the takes are nicely fared in to the final mix. The recording has striking presence and immediacy.”

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Included is a 6-page, full-size booklet with authoritative liner notes by Hans Eppstein – all texts provided in German, English, and French. The memorable cover portrait of Mintz was taken by Christian Steiner, while art direction was supervised by Hartmut Pfeiffer.

The recording sessions were led by Dr. Steven Paul; the recording supervisor was Wolfgang Stengel and the sound engineer Karl August-Naegler.