With the support of the American State Department, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, including new members Joe Morello and Eugene Wright, began a major tour of Europe early in 1958. Their first concert in the Netherlands was held on 26 February in the legendary Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam. The concert inaugurated a triumphant career in Europe. It announced, loud and clear, the communicative enthusiasm that was the lasting hallmark of these four exceptional musicians.

Since its inception in 1964, the Berlin Jazz Fest had been thought of as a festival that, if not avant-garde, welcomed the most progressive and experimental forms of music of a period rich in all types of modernistic trends, from radical free jazz to a multitude of fusions of pop, rock, soul and jazz. But in 1969, as if swimming against the tide of the revolutions that swept the West, the organizers took an audacious stand: it was Duke Ellington’s 70th birthday and not only did they welcome him at the head of his big band for the first time, but part of the program focused on his heritage; as a bonus and birthday gift, Ellington was featured on the publicity poster of the festival’s sixth edition.

The Berlin concert of 8 November 1969 is magnificent testimony to the extraordinary freshness of tone that Ellington’s big band still displayed on stage, when the sheer pleasure of playing took over from the routine of performance. The concert of 2 November 1973, on the stage of the Philharmonie, turned out to be Ellington’s last concert at the Berlin Jazztage.

The first release on any format of Szeryng's recording in Berlin during the years 1962-1963* at which time Szeryng was at the peak of his technical and intellectual capacities. All tracks have been remastered from the original Berlin radio tapes using Phoenix Mastering, a unique restoration process developed over 2 years by The Lost Recordings and Devialet teams.

Henryk Szeryng: "Johann Sebastian Bach's work is a Bible. Bach is the ultimate goal; this is where everything starts and everything ends. His music brings you closer to your own spirit," What could more eloquently express the violinist's relationship with Bach, developed from an early age? Szeryng keep up his intimate association of Bach throughout his life. Szeryng's deft finger work brings out the full brilliance of the Partita's clarity and joy. His energy, his attacks, his remarkably precise bowing and generous timbre once more bear testimony to the depth and intensity of his lifelong attachment to Bach.

Throughout the innumerable meanderings of this Sonata for Violin and Piano in which Franck breathes new life into the genre, Henryk Szeryng has wrought a miracle. With his natural, dynamic interpretation, the warmth of his emotion-filled timbre, and the ringing clarity of his articulation and intonations, he does perfect justice to a work that is constantly balancing between sensual melodies and formal experimentation.

Henryk Szeryng masters the most demanding technical difficulties while rendering the subtlest effects of Ravel's writing. His generous timbre and pure phrasing, which have led some to compare him to "pure essence of rose", are superb in this highlight of the repertoire. Ravel, entranced by the flights of tzigane music, has bequeathed us one of his most captivating works. Szeryng's performance makes his intimacy with Beethoven manifest. The energy of his interpretation of the sonata nevertheless captures the finest details of the drama of the works.

* CD2, Track 9 recorded 1982. All tracks remastered 2022.