"Halfway" 'Round the World with Janos Starker
Starker Plays Kodaly
I originally planned to include this entire 3 LP box set of early Period Records Janos Starker recordings, but ran into difficulties. First the original set I had did not include the Mozart or Boccherini sides, but duplicates of two of the Kodaly pieces. The second set I bought had the same issue. There was obviously a problem at the factory. At the prices the set is now being sold for, I did not feel like risking a repeat, and, to be honest, the Kodaly pieces included in this post, are the reasons this is one of my favorite record sets.
In particular, though Starker recorded the Unaccompanied sonata on a number of other occasions, none of them match the intensity and technical bravura of this early recording, which remains my favorite of the piece by anyone, including Starker's subsequent essays.
I have the Mozart and Boccherini concertos on an Everest fake stereo LP that I think sounds awful. After hours of work trying to get it to sound better, I have decided to settle for uploading the Kodaly and leaving the rest, at least for now. The Bartok Rhapsody and Weiner Kakodalmas have annoying audible clunks - either from the original transfer or my LP. I have discovered I have the original pressing of those pieces, so if I manage to fix those issues someday, I'll post them, but for now the best of the box are the three Kodaly pieces included here: The Unaccompanied Sonata for Cello, Op.8, the Duo for Violin and Cello Op.7, and the Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 4. The box is worth getting for the Op. 8 alone.
All files can be found here:
