Henryk Szeryng plays "Labyrinth" Caprice in D Major

[xeygarz]

Say, what's that bowing technique called from 0:09 - 0:16 and again from 0:23 - 0:30?

[Zvax]

alright. this is simply the best thing in life.

surpassing food, love, or outdoor adventure.

[wtfpwndzor]

amazing

theres little wonder as to why szeryngs recordings of kreisler were amongst the most highly regarded of any violinist of his time

id go so far as to say that he was best behind kreisler himself

and lets not forget he was drunk off his ass during these performances, though whether thats a handicap for him is debatable....this kind of passion can only come off an intensely skilled and tipsy szeryng

[ThyrmBloodaxe]

@wtfpwndzor rofl, was he seriously a drunk? i can only find info from forums.

[calligop]

Yep, he cheated. Made a "version" of the hardest part...

[Zvax]

yea, everything he does is SO easy, you would do it much better...

get lost

[calligop]

I did not say I would do better, I just said he made an arrangement and made the difficult part easier. If you can't read or don't understand nothing about music the just shut the fuck up...

[franzpschubert]

Come on... as if there was a passage in any of the repertoire that this guy couldn't play. I'm sure that he transposed the melody down an octave so that the counterpoint was more explicit and so that he could make use of his instrument's powerful low range, not because he wanted to make the "difficult part" easier.

[jguar17944]

Does anyone know who wrote the piano accompaniment? Not that it would be difficult to transcribe...

[1courage]

I guess this pice doesen't require an accompaniment at all. It was a stupid thing writing it. It should finish the way Oistrach play it and not with a simple D major accord. Szeryng by the way plays it perfectly. The intonation is just frenetic. Listen the other interpretations on youtube. All of them hassome (or many) false tunes, expect this one

[lawlaw122]

seriously...the way Szeryng plays this it is in my opinion far better than any other violinists interpretation of this piece

[GreatPianists]

Wonderfully played by Maestro Szeryng. The labyrinth gloriously unfolds before the listener...

[iaquil]

I think any soloist, of any instrument, has to make a good lecture of the music he or her plays. But this is not a story with one ending. The music player has to do an iterpretation out of the lecture. If he or her only stays with the lecture, there is no music. Like this case.

[armonici]

"like this case" Wtf are you talking about?

[smithsherman]

YES..This perfomance is a...Labyrinth whither expression and music disappeared.

[pianopera]

The problem is, when you wake up and are sober again, the comment is still there, it doesn't disappear by itself...

[smithsherman]

This isn't a problem...it's just time for a bloody mary.

[HaxIRL]

Don't know why, but I don't imagine anything at all, it's a strange feeling. Very strange...

Eh, Szeryng plays it rather well, I prefer this rendition to the Oistrakh one - Seems livelier!

[Err0XPj9]

Truly revelatory - the technique, the precision, the imagination; this should be inspiration enough for any violinist.

[sauret20]

Fabulosa interpretación de Szeryng, le imprime un dinamismo único a esta pieza, muy caracteristica de su maravilloso estilo.

[utubegeek17]

Labyrinth? Somehow this piece does not make me think of the Minotaur- but as always, Szeryng plays it perfectly in tune.

Notice he has relatively short arms? or, at least 'stout' arms? Look how he has to reach to get to the G string.

[AithonFire]

That was A-1. Love it! Please post more.

[bluedoughnuts]

Bit like butterflies dancing.

[Freshmanwave]

I can see where you get that impression but for me it feels more like fish swimming in a sort of pool in an alpine environment. Then, of course, interpretations differ by person.

[bluedoughnuts]

Hehehe...yup...I can see that one...what a delight to hear it again (they told me you had replied to my comment)...listening again...the name is 'Labyrinth'...you could imagine a couple of little kids running around the labyrinth, exploring it with glee...finally coming back to the entrance... :-))

[ecgtrombone]

my best friend played this sunday. it sounded just as good as this. incredible

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Yeah I definitely like this better than Oistrakh's

[GreatPianists]

Wonderful technique. I think this is my favorite rec of this piece. I'd rather listen to this than Oistrakh's.

But don't get me wrong, Oistrakh is my favorite violinist. Just don't like his Labyrinth.

[kolobok1]

what were you trying to say OistrakhMilstein?

Szeryng was one of the greats of the 20th century for sure.

He was a master of his instrument, spoke 11 languages and was a true gentleman.

[OistrakhMilstein]

I uploaded Yehudi's version of this song...

[johnc92]

When I first heard this song played, it was Oistrakh's recording and I hated the song. Now I listened to this version and I like the song...hmmm...interesting.

[cenolbaj]

This is not a "song" ...

[johnc92]

Piece then, assface. I don't care if it "has words or not."

[madtyn]

This piece was written to be played as a violin solo as a cadenza in the last concerto from L'arte del Violino. The piano accompaniment was invented. I prefer the original.

[jeongalex]

i have his recording of bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and it is INCREDIBLE

[cgzH]

Hoho regarding this argument with regard to Szeryng's version, I have to say that Szeryng is much cleaner, and much more in tune. Both of them have very different and good interpretations, however, and preference for one over the other, is, of course, subjective.

But I prefer Szeryng's ;)

[robotnik77]

Szeryng was underrated probably because he never received as much exposure as other famous violinists. He was one of the very best. He was 'discovered' when Artur Rubinstein was making a tour of Mexico and heard Szeryng play. Thereafter, Rubinstein and Szeryng shared many joint concerts and Henryk's fame was established.

Szeryng was septualingual and was a military interpreter during the Second World War.

[trevorpinnocky]

pretty sweet. as a student of the oistrakh school i can never admit that this one is better, but.. ahem... it's pretty nice. ; )

[Polivanov1]

Maybe he likes it more because 'c'est vrai'?! Or has a bit more character? I prefer Oistrakh's too yes, as I think it suites my personal taste, but why assume? Are people not entitled to opinion? T

[SamLee0519]

Yup. I like it better because of the more "liveliness" and the character.

[OistrakhMilstein]

you like it better because its played faster and its with a piano, not orchestration by gennady...