Dear Mr Hurwitz! I would like to thank you so very much for making this talk about the recordings of Mr Grumiaux. I now know that I have to own it. Best wishes Fred.

There was no one like him. He brought out the best in every piece he played, and there's no one else in the Classical music world who put out as consistent of a catalogue as he did of ANY instrument, and he's the most intellectually curious violinist of the mid-20th century. A glorious set.

One of your best videos

Dear David, Your efforts on behalf of purchasers of this faulty new Grumiaux edition are nothing short of Herculean and hugely philanthropic . Well done! I am the proud owner of the original 78-disc Philips Complete Edition in its two handsome boxes. Is there really any point at all in replacing it with this new one? Are there any genuine sonic improvements and actual evidence of remastering, as some suggest? Clearly, there is a nice big book to go with it, and it would surely occupy far less shelf space (no small issue). Clearly, I don't have a problem with disc 45. Still, it's great that Decca have awarded Grumiaux this immense tribute. Sadly, I never heard him live, but he remains in the pantheon of great violinists for me, since there is an exquisite sensibility at work here, and you are quite right in saying that many of his performances remain benchmarks after all these years. There is nothing vulgar or showy whatsoever in his performances, and he frequently exhibits an extraordinary inwardness characterised by an almost whispered breathing quality that is completely unique to him. Truly great playing. Please advise.

"Of course you should get the box, if you want some great violin playing ... Grumiaux was one of the all time great violinists in the history of violinishness..." AMEN to that! I can only add: do hurry up and get it while you can! Lot's of the stuff I knew beforehand, but so far I haven't heard a single disc from the box being bad or of dubious quality! My only quibble so far is the difficultly decipherable text on the spine of the individual cardboard sleeves for the cds, almost illegible due to the font, size and colours chosen for the text. This is even more annoying as the booklet do not contain an overview of the content of the individual cds, one by one - but only the register based on composers, that David refers to in his video. PS. Thank you, David, for sharing the information about the duplicated cd 44 and missing cd 45. As Amazon has already answered to my request for a replacement in the most obnoxious way, most likely in breach of EU- regulations for consumer protection, I'm now glad to have an address to directly contact Decca to sort the thing out!

Great review. Happily, I got my hands on the Grimiaux Mozart recordings from Decca--19 cds--on Ebay. Around $50.

I can’t wait to get this!!

Fabulous clip, Sir. Especially as I now know where to get my replacement CD for the Beethoven Violin Concerto. You talk with authority about the Franco-Belgian school. Thank you for the enthusiasm ; I am also an AG fan. ps. I do play and listen to lots of solo Bach, but I am no more psychotic than you.

Just stumbled upon this great review. Would love to buy this but just 3 months later I can't find it anywhere! Well, a few used boxes. Is this box going to be reissued with the corrected disc? Will have to pay close attention so I don't miss it again. Love this channel!

The Stravinsky Concerto is out of this world! I've never heard it played with such a combination of lethal accuracy and tonal beauty.

Grumiaux's Bach Sonatas and Partitas is rightfully the reference interpretation for those works

This set seems to already be out of stock on Amazon. Decca doesn't respond either to email, or Facebook queries. Does anyone know if it's gone for good, or be restocked, hopefully with the corrected disk?

Hi David,This morning I received an email from Decca informing me that the replacrment disc is on its way after covid related delays. Thank you for posting the contact info.

I WISH he would have recorded the Paganini Caprices; I think that would have been incredible to hear.

Oh David you have outdone yourself in this one. Sheer delight...I am tempted to say...”oh the glee, oh the glee”...with titbits about Messrs Leppard and Klien as well as the long overture before you dug in. The suicidal program of solo Bach was hilarious but I definitely can empathise. Personally I can sit through the cello suites gladly not so much the violin s and p. Well...Thank you so much. Any thoughts on a complete Viotti set? God bless...

Hi David! Could you clarify for me which sonatas and partitas did Milstein remade, please? The ones available on DG's legendary originals series? I always have trouble with the amout of this stuff. Many thanks. Love Grumiaux's by the way. (Edit): Thank you all for the useful answers. Amazing comment section :)

Fixed. Fabulous. And out-of-print. This one seemed to disappear even more quickly than usual. Why, why, why don’t they leave these things in print???!!!!!

Dave, I have narrowed down the selection of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin to three choices - Grumiaux, Milstein, and Perlman. I can only afford one. Which of these three recordings would you choose?

In addition to the already mentioned duplication, some people report that discs 39 and 40 are duplicated. Do you have the same problem too ?

I have the Menuhin mega-box “Le Siecle de Menuhin” - any comparative thoughts on that?

Heifetz and co. "Chamber music for bullies"! TRUTH, 😆!

Unfortunately a year plus later, box is already gone. Lesson learned…

Just out of curiosity, has anyone received the replacement disc 45? I received a form e-mail promising a "corrected CD" within 14 days on May 15. Since then, the sounds of silence.

Decca box looks like Mecca, which is fine as I worship Grumiaux.

Is this set still available? tried at several sites including AMAZON

I’m not happy with the decision to use those gatefold sleeves that house 3-4 CDs in this set. The middle discs in these sleeves are almost impossible to remove, and even if you can remove them you end up having to grab the playing side with your fingers. Most labels have gone away from these sleeves, or at least gone to a sleeve that allows each CD to be extracted individually from a slot at the top of the sleeve, rather than having to remove them sideways. If doesn’t help that the interior of the sleeves is very tight - not much space outside the diameter of the CD. It’s almost like the set was designed to sit on the shelf, unplayed, rather than making it easy to explore the contents therein. There are so many better options out there these days, so why? BTW - So far, I’ve listened to CD 1 (BWV 1001-3) and CD 66 (Franck and Grieg Third Sonatas) and the sound matches the spectacular and beautiful playing.

Anyone having luck with the replacement disks? I got no replies on email, Facebook or Twitter?

Anything Grumiaux and Clara Haskil is close to if not definitive. I know there has been a lot of recordings of the Beethoven, but to me, nothing touches Grumiaux/Haskil. They're together on a series of Mozart sonatas, and they're as good as it gets too. I know David isn't the biggest Bach fan but Grumiaux playing the Chaconne is very close to leaving this planet and going to a better one.

Dave, you praised highly Grumiaux's rendition of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. You also praised Milstein's rendition. There are so many recordings of these works; are you going to evaluate them any time soon? If not, can you recommend the one set of the Sonatas and Partitas if "you're having only one"? BTW, good work on helping to straighten out the Grumiaux Edition snafu.

Another humdinger from you, many thanks. A small point, but... I sang for Raymond Leppard in 1966-7, his last two years as a don at Cambridge (UK). He was actually quite feline and I guess wouldn’t have minded being compared to the big cat, but he was invariably pronounced LEppaarrd, with first syllable stressed and the second with a long A (as in hard) so not quite the same as the sub-Saharan animal. In all the years since then I’ve never heard him pronounced differently.