Bach, J S: Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin, BWV1001-1006

Denes Zsigmondy was born in Budapest in 1922. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, receiving tuition from Geza de Kresz, Leon Weiner and Imre Waldbauer. His musical education as a violinist was further influenced by working with Carl Flesch and Zino Francescatti. Personal contact with Bela Bartok inspired his great interest in Bartok’s musical vision and exploration of Eastern European folk music. In 1972, he was appointed Professor a the University of Washington in Seattle, and Guest Professor at the Boston University. The violin that he is heard playing on this recording is the “Ernst” Stradivari from 1709, which was on loan to him from private benefactors in Hamburg. It is an endearing coincidence that Stradivari made this violin in the very year of Johann Sebastian Bach’s first meeting with violinist Georg Pisendel, who might have inspired him to compose the works of this recording. This recording was hugely important to Denes Zsigmondy; it might be his musical farewell to his wife, and it is also a document of the essence of his own existence. At the 95th anniversary of Zsigmondy’s birth, this remastered version is not only a glimpse into the past, but also into the soul of a human being that must not be forgotten.