TOSCHA SEIDEL - Live Performance (Chausson Poeme - Hollywood Bowl 1945)

The only known surviving "live" broadcast by the great Toscha Seidel, here giving a mesmerising performance of Chausson's POEME with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony conducted by Leopold Stokowsy. The sound quality is not that wonderful (and you can even hear a plane pass overhead at one point about 15 minutes in) but it's a precious document nevertheless - and the only recording we have of this great violinist in live performance, and of a substantial work. From the late 1920s until the late 1940s, Seidel made dozens of broadcasts (including all the great concerti) but none have come to light as yet. Even in such a poor recording, this is unmistakably Seidel. A truly remarkable musician indeed.