Though issued as Volume XIX of Symposium’s ‘The Great Violinists’ series, this CD is equally interesting as a record of distinguished pianism. Most familiar is the Kreisler/Rachmaninov rec- ording of Op 30 No 3. These two artists shared an extraordinary ability to communicate directly through their playing – the beautiful melody of the Tempo di Menuetto seems designed especially for Kreisler’s D string. Personal communication, with Rachmaninov particularly, takes precedence over strict adherence to the composer’s markings, but when the result is as exhilarating as this it would be pedantic to complain of a too loud pianissimo.

Louis Kentner and Jenö Léner’s approach in Op 30 No 1 is quite different. Playing together in impeccable ensemble, they take account of all the indications of articulation and dynamics and make them part of their own expressive style. Kentner’s poise and clarity is allied to a strong lyrical feeling; the same goes for Léner, whose old-world manner, incorporating gentle, often quite slow vibrato and frequent expressive portamenti, is most appealing.

It’s a great shame that Adila Fachiri’s sound comes over so faintly on the recording of Op 96 (when I heard her live, in the 1950s, she had a notably robust style). As a result, attention focuses on Tovey, whose strong musical intellect shows, not in dry-as-dust rendition of the notes, but rather in the way he projects emotional meaning through continual and sometimes extravagant rubato, changes of tempo, and agogic accents. And we hear him speak, too, instructing the listener to start the record again, in order to effect a first-movement repeat.

Symposium’s transfers sound very true to life, but there are some problems with side changes – in Op 30 No 1’s first movement there’s a missing beat (track 1, 4'12").

-- Duncan Druce, Gramophone [3/2004]