The Art Of Erica Morini - American Decca, Westmins

Erica Morini

When Erica Morini made her debut with the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Berlin Philharmonic under Arthur Nikisch in 1916, critics took no notice of her young age, calling her work equal to that of the most famous violinists of the younger generation. Harold C. Schonberg, music critic for The New York Times, once referred to Ms. Morini as "probably the greatest violinist who ever lived," although she did not like that idea. "A violinist is a violinist," she said, "and I am judged as such - not as a musician." As a pure musician, she earned consistently rave reviews Shortly after her sensational New York debut at the age of seventeen (January 26, 1921), she was presented with the Guadagnini violin. She later moved to New York to escape the anti-Semitic terror in Germany and Austria, and began writing her first name Erica. in 1943, she became an American citizen. In the 1950s and 1960s she made numerous exceptional recordings for the American labels Decca, Westminster and Deutsche Grammophon. Her concert , solo and chamber music repertoire ranged from Bach to Glazunov, and throughout her career she worked with some of the greatest conductors of her time such as Nikisch, Furtwängler, Koussevitzky, Beecham and Stravinsky. In addition to the Guadagnini violin, Morini also played the 1727 "Davidov" Stradivarius violin, which Morini's father had purchased for her in Paris in 1924 for $10,000. Shortly before her death in October 1995, at the age of 91, Morini's prized Davidov Stradivarius (as well as paintings and letters) was stolen from her Fifth Avenue apartment in New York. The Stradivarius was valued at $3.5 million at the time, while Morini had insured the violin for only $800,000. She died without knowing about the theft. In her will, she had directed that the violin be sold after her death and the proceeds donated to three Jewish charities. The crime has not been solved to this day. To this day, it is ranked by the FBI as one of the top ten art crimes. Four months after her death, Erica Morini was called "the most enchanting violinist of this century" in The Strad magazine. "Not a prodigy, but a miracle": this was Arthur Nikisch's verdict on Erica Morini, a virtuoso specializing in Romantic violin repertoire who made numerous excellent recordings for American Decca, Westminster and Deutsche Grammophon in the 1950s and 1960s. These recordings now appear in an edition for the first time. 13 CDs are accompanied by a 44-page booklet featuring rare photos, images of the original covers, and an essay by specialist Tully Potter on Morini's life. The collection includes recordings with distinguished artists such as Ferenc Fricsay, Artur Rodziński and Nicholas Harsanyi. Highlights span recordings of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas Nos. 3, 5, 7, and 8 with Rudolf Firkušný, and Bach's Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2.

Price: $99.98

In stock
ships in 3 to 5 days