Full review from FANFARE Magazine:
These are historic recordings. They should appeal to collectors interested in outstanding English musicians who were in their prime 60 to 80 years ago. English Columbia made them all: the Bruch, with the acoustic recording horn, in 1925; Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony in 1931, and his Hebrides Overture 10 years later. Although the famous Bruch Violin Concerto suffers from unavoidable dynamic and tonal limitations, I find it the most fascinating of three fine performances. Albert Sammons (1886–1957) displays excellent technique and interpretive powers of the highest order. The musical punctuation is at many points the most emphatic I have ever heard in this piece. With conductor Harty’s close support, the soloist tends to accelerate a bit in the bravura passagework, as if to emphasize how easily he can hit all those notes clearly at breakneck speed. In Bruch’s warm melodies, however, there is no rushing at all; perhaps just the slightest tendency to linger and draw the maximum effect without spilling over into sentimentality.

Hamilton Harty’s “Italian” Symphony is played with zest and precision, fully displaying the graceful charms of this masterpiece, as is Malcolm Sargent’s wartime Hebrides Overture. But excellent performances of these works are abundant, most of them in sound far superior to what we have here. There are no repeats in the symphony, and a cut in the reprise of the minuet. There is also the possibility that modern ears will find the violins’ generous use of portamento (sliding up and down from one note to another) unnerving. So the disc is mainly recommendable for the art of Albert Sammons. Those especially interested in the conductors or the early recordings of the Hallé Orchestra will not be disappointed.

--Robert McColley, FANFARE