Schubert was a competent violinist and violist and his four violin sonatas pose no problems for skilled players. It is strange, then, that so few really recommendable recordings of them have been made. Apart from these beautiful interpretations by Martzy and Antonietti, which have become legendary, one can find individual works by Fritz Kreisler and Sergei Rachmaninov, or Josef Suk and Jan Panenka, but few others that catch the essential simplicity of the pieces. The Rondo brillant and the Fantasy on Schubert’s song Sei mir gegrüsst, on the other hand, are among the most difficult works in the violin-and-piano repertoire, written for the shortlived Bohemian virtuoso Josef Slavík. Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin were famous for playing them but such big names as Jascha Heifetz and David Oistrakh have fallen flat on their faces, trying to unravel the secrets of the Fantasy. Martzy and Antonietti bring beautiful, meticulously prepared playing to all half dozen pieces. Their interpretations, which are well balanced and clearly recorded for the time, have an inherent strength but also pliancy, transparency and unsentimental sweetness where required.

From the booklet note © Tully Potter, 2011