Elman was not a frequent broadcaster, even in America, but he worked occasionally for the BBC from 1932, when he played the Tchaikovsky Concerto with Adrian Boult on 26 October and a studio recital  two days later. The two recitals on these compact discs were pre-recorded on a visit to England in 1961 with Joseph Seiger: one was broadcast on the Home Service, with a brief introduction written  by Hans Keller (and was followed, after the News, by a People Today profile of Elman), and the other was aired on the Third Programme. For the Elman enthusiast, two pieces stand out. Brahms’s G major Sonata is the only one of the three that the violinist did not record commercially (he did the A major with Seiger and the D minor with both Wolfgang Rosé and Seiger). The Gavotte en Rondeau from Bach’s E major Partita is important because we have virtually no unaccompanied Bach from Elman – just the Allegro from the A minor Sonata and this same Gavotte on 1908 Pathé discs, which are difficult to access, and the Preludio from this Partita on a 1932 HMV disc. The Handel Sonata and the Vitali Chaconne are done with appropriate dignity and sturdy rhythm, as well as considerable virtuosity in the Vitali. Elman is fluent in the Spring Sonata and knows when to get out of the pianist’s way. He takes quite a leisurely view of the sonata as a whole and is affecting in the Adagio. For the Brahms he produces his most pliant playing; he is eloquent in the Adagio and surprisingly brisk in the finale. The Bach Air displays his fine G-string sound; the piece by fellow Auer alumnus Joseph Achron is done emotionally, without being milked for effect and the Kreisler is taken quite fast but with the expected Viennese inflections. The little set of Gypsy Airs written in 1925 by César Espejo, an Elman speciality, is despatched with virtuosity and well-honed harmonics. Only in the Smetana – second of two pieces entitled From My Homeland – does Elman nod slightly: he uses a discredited edition and although the slower section is lovingly turned, the Czech rhythms in the faster section lack the authentic flavour.

Extract from the booklet note: © Tully Potter, 2011