COUP 002 - Johanna Martzy

Johanna Martzy: Mozart and Bach Violin Concertos

It has been remarked that Johanna Martzy's reputation has been kept alive by record collectors, and that within this realm her name has acquired legendary status. While this could be said of several artists, it is undeniably true in Johanna's case. Names appear and reappear in books concerning great violinists, both male and female, yet incredibly only one, Hartnack's Grosse Geiger unserver Zeit (1967) has featured hers. However, Hartnack's view is unequivocal - "Of all the (female) violinists named here, Martzy's is the most vital." As an attempt to remind the reader of public opinion during Johanna's career, these liner notes are confined to a selection of contemporary reviews of public performances and recorded work from around the globe. Receiving minimal promotion from her record companies and agents, her reputation was made by the press - and naturally, her audience. Adulation was the typical response.

It is truly unusual for so young an artist to possess equally, and to such a high degree, the understanding and the command of all the elements of her art. Suffice it to tell of Mml. Martzy's exceptional talent, and my longing to hear it again. It is hardly necessary to mention the bright future that awaits the artist. La Tribune de Genève, 1.2.47

What richness, what amplitude, what emotion of melody and fullness of vibrato, what grip, what masculine passion of interpretation, what genial choice of nuances. Really, we cannot imagine that one could be at the same time more dazzling and more inspired. Images Musicales, Paris, 4.11.49

Magical firmness, serenity and clarity marked Johanna Martzy's rendering of Bach's Violin Concerto in E. In her, supreme capability and natural musical perception are happilly united. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich, 4.5.53.

She has a beautiful velvet tone over the whole range of dynamics, and a smooth and easy bowing which makes for long unbroken lines and subtle inflections of phrasing. No single note was played by her as if it didn't matter. Johanna Martzy well deserved the tremendous applause she received from the audience. Glasgow Herald, 23.5.52.

The soloist, Johanna Martzy, is a highly gifted artist. She possesses all the qualities of an ideal violinist, the beauty and richness of tone, the flexibility of bow, the musicality, the gift of vivacity and the instinct of a born interpreter. Miss Martzy conquered the public, whose applause was a measure of its enthusiasm. Tribune de Lausanne, 24.11.53.

Once again all true music lovers have turned out in great numbers for Johanna Martzy as to necessitate an extra five rows to be placed on the very stage of the Diligentia Hall. This violinistic phenomenon has now reached the phase that she might safely give a full series of concerts. Even if she hired the (2000 seat) Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen, it would be full every night. Het Vaterland, The Hague, 1.2.55.

Johanna Martzy played the Mozart violin concerto sublimely. The rendering was serene and noble. She avoided anything that looked like bravura and yet her playing was brilliant, her lively technique full of overwhelming conviction. The composition was Mozart's but Johanna Martzy put her own soul into it. Algemeen Handelsblad, Amsterdam, 17.10.55.

Johanna Martzy is a thirty-one year old violinist from Budapest who plays with so much fire and beauty that she brings to mind the late French violinist, Ginette Neveu. Review of Recorded Music, USA, 11.56

At one fell swoop, she indicated that she is a major talent, one of the elite of the world. Let this notice be considered a blanket of praise for a captivating queen of the violin. Cincinatti Enquirer, 10.57.

Here was warmth and opulence, poetic feeling and and almost breathless singing quality. Miss Martzy has an exceedingly rare feeling for phrasing, a beautiful flowing sound. The Denver Post, 10.57.

The Bach Partita was a marvel from first to last - particularly last. The great chaconne was music in every bar rather than a series of hardly surmountable difficulties. In my experience only the performance of this piece of the Russian Kogan was as compelling as the one last night. The Sunday Star, Washington DC, 26.10.58.

Miss Martzy proved as great a delight to the ear and the eye, and vice cersa. Her tall stance, her proud high hold of her instrument and her free-wheeling bow arm would have held the attention of the deaf. To have the boon of hearing and to have this sight translated into translucent tone, into the eloquent nuances suggested by the composer was the kind of pleasure that over-compensates for our failures to reach the moon. Aline Jean Treanor, Toronto, 11.58.

No-one could suggest that Johanna Martzy is not feminine in her grace. Yet it is hard to think of any masculine quality which she does not display. She has power in her right arm, and a commanding attitude. Her technical and rhythmical clarity of detail are more potently irresistible than any conductor's baton, as her clear tone rings out above the band with clear-cut finger work. In short, Madame Martzy is yet another of music's marvels. The Advertiser, South Australia, 21.7.61.

A violin evening by Johanna Martzy is always a jewel in the Berlin season. One really does not know what to admire more in this serious artist - the magnificent blooming tone or the stylistically correct interpretation. She is full of vital energy, a self-confident person of the greatest artistic integrity. Berliner Morgenpost, 12.2.64.

A violinist of the highest perfection who can exact such tone from an intrument, she proves her knowledge of the last and highest secrets of violin playing. The greatest technical difficulties are mastered by Johanna Martzy with such ease that her fabulous virtuosity becomes the servant of interpretation. Bieler Tagblatt, Switzerland, 21.2.64.

Track listing

W. A. Mozart

Violin Concerto in D, K 216

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Rondeau:Allegro

Symphony Orchestra of Bavarian State Radio, cond. Eugen Jochum.

Recorded 19th June 1955, Würtzburg der Residenz

Used with kind permission of Bayerischen Rundfunks, München.

J. S. Bach

Violin Concerto in e, BVW 1042

1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro Assai

Symphony Orchestra of Bavarian State Radio, cond. Eugen Jochum.

Recorded 24th April 1959, Herkulessaal der Residenz

Used with kind permission of Bayerischen Rundfunks, München.