DEMONSTRATION QUALITY SOUND for this incredibly rare Living Stereo violin record.

This is the first copy I’ve ever seen. Side one, the Brahms Sonata, has very good sound and is played beautifully. When I dropped the needle on side two I went “Wow!”

The Bach partita for solo violin is incredible sounding. The violin is close miked and every nuance of the instrument is displayed in front of you. The immediacy of the recording is nothing short of stunning. To quote from the liner notes, “Jaime calls the Sonatas and Partitas THE most demanding works in the literature. The works lightness and high spirits — the spirit of 17th century dance music — belie its complexity and the enormous technical and interpretive demands it makes of the performer.”

Having this intimate a window onto the piece, I completely agree. It’s a spell-binding work.

This record features Brahms Sonata No. 3 in D Minor and Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E.

This copy is stamped For Demonstration Purposes Only, which may explain why I’ve never seen one. I’m guessing practically none were produced, for what reason I have not a clue. No doubt the decision was made at the corporate level. It certainly has nothing to do with the quality of the recording or the music.

As I like to say, having played a record like this, show me the CD with this kind of sound and I will eat it!