It was interesting re-listening to Jascha Heifetz's 1952 recordings of the Bach solo sonatas and partitas (new transfer by my friends at Pristine Audio). For the first time for ages, Heifetz's violin at last sounds like Heifetz's violin (which was not the case with the RCA / BMG transfers). There was a lot of warmth in Heifetz's sound. These new Pristine transfers are the ones I will keep, and the old set can go to a charity shop.

Listening to all six works during a 24 hour period can often be a challenge, with monochrome and monotone violin playing from many contestants. No challenge with Heifetz: the range of bowings, colours and dynamics he produces means that all six works are a pleasure to hear, one after another. 1952 was not a great vintage period for American recording technology, but in their new re-incarnation the Heifetz recordings are perfectly acceptable (the first sonata, for some reason, sounds slightly lower recording quality than the other five works). The Bach unaccompanieds are a highly competitive area, but these Heifetz recordings now join Lara St.John, Oscar Shumsky and Nathan Milstein in my personal pantheon. Probably Heifetz beats Milstein now; he is just even more interesting to listen to.