@mahgister
After streaming a fair amount of Helene Schmitt and Henryk Szeryng, I would go with Schmitt hands down. There is one caveat, however; I am not sure how much of my opinion is due to the recordings. Sceryng’s violin seemed edgy. He did not have the deep resonance, especially of the lower strings, that Schmitt has. I will have to listen to something other than Bach partitas to see if this is a quality of his or the recording.
As i said i love Schmitt playing...I even listen to her for casual listening or for the "sound" ...But Szeryng is reserved for sacred listening where sound recorded quality dont matter...
And i played the devil here with you suggesting the bad recording of Szeryng versus the seducing Schmitt version...
But so magnificent and beautiful is the violin sound and mastery of Schmitt, my prefered version, if Szeryng did not exist, there is no comparison at all for me between the two artists so transcendent is Szeryng here ...And i never listened to any other version because none rival him, but few rival Schmitt...
But to be frank there is a version that rival Szering without surpassing him for sure :
Nathan Milstein ( majestic just under Szeriyng ) and Josef Szigeti (completely original and fascinating and very different playing than any other violonists then out of competition so to speak, like Schmitt who speak but do not sing, Szigeti speak prose and do not sing but his prose is sublime eloquence over even Schmitt)
And there is one version rival of Schmitt for me : John Ehnes (almost perfect playing and more integrated playing than Schmitt more poetical than the perfect Schmitt prose, but the sound recording of Schmitt is unrivalled) ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpqpnd0-nV8&list=PLgDbwm0zQXxI9mj5mYaaEpwq83M1yue08
Forget the sound and listen the music out of any comparison...
Szeryng sing and speak as God voice, not Schmitt, not even Ehnes , not even the almost godly Milstein (whose sound recordings and also playing by these three is one of the most spectacular i ever heard) ...