For many years now I have been a loyal fan of Erica Morini, so I was pleased to receive a new Audite release of Morini in Berlin (1952). She plays the Tchaikovsky concerto (with Ferenc Fricsay) plus miscellaneous baroque sonatas and encore pieces with Michael Raucheisen. The Sevick school -- including Morini, Kubelik and Schneiderhan -- went out of fashion after the 1940s with the advent of the "plummy" Russian violin school with stars such as Oistrakh and Stern. But there is a lot to be said for the "Sevcik sound": the immaculate intonation, the tightly focussed tone, the sparing use of vibrato, the emphasis on articulation via bow strokes. Erica Morini was a major violinist and it's sad we have so few recordings of her in her prime.

I was, also, very impressed with Audite's sound restoration from performances and recordings in 1952 Berlin. Amidst the ruins of the city, there was a strong renaissance of music making and recording (the Tchaikovsky concerto being a public performance in the Titania-Palast that replaced the old Philharmonic hall on which someone had decided to drop a bomb).