Breathtaking Mozart and Bach from a golden-age violinist
The Strad Issue: November 2026
Description: Breathtaking Mozart and Bach from a golden-age violinist
Musicians: Adolf Busch (violin) Artur Balsam (piano) Busch Quartet; Busch Chamber Players
Works: Bach: Violin Sonata in E minor BWV1023. Handel: Violin Sonata in A major HWV361. Mozart: Violin Concerto K219 ‘Turkish’; Quartet in E flat major K428; works by Brahms, Corelli, Geminiani and Tartini
Catalogue number: BIDDULPH 85072-2
Adolf Busch’s two favourite composers, Bach and Mozart, are represented here. Biddulph has already reissued the Mozart Quartet K428, but it is welcome as one of the two great interpretations of the piece (the other being that by the Smetana Quartet). The players make a fine start – the repeat is taken and they explore the first movement without forcing the pace. The Andante is very affecting, the Minuet full of delightful detail and the Haydnesque Allegro vivace has wit, drive and splendid rhythm.
Busch, the sole golden-age violinist to play all the Mozart concertos as well as the Sinfonia concertante, recorded only the A major. The Allegro aperto is full of incident, Busch favouring crushed notes rather than appoggiaturas, while Joachim’s cadenza is marvellous.
The Adagio is played with great profundity and in the Rondo Busch revels in the various episodes. The strings of his little band are not always as well-groomed as we would expect today but the oboes and horns are superb. Adagios by Corelli and Tartini, arranged by Busch with string accompaniment, have a wonderful tinge of melancholy.
Busch and Artur Balsam make something special of the little Bach sonata and the Handel A major must be among the finest historic recordings of a sonata by this composer. Two Brahms/Joachim Hungarian Dances are full of character.
Finally comes the recording I always play to people who want to hear what Busch’s tone sounded like, Geminiani’s Siciliana in C minor – not from the sonata in that key, as the track listing asserts, but a separate piece.
Tully Potter
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