Grieg recordings have come apace in this anniversary year, but Oscar Shumsky's performances of the three violin sonatas are special in that his playing offers something of the style of an older generation, which may well be thought to suit the music. Now in his late seventies, this artist made his debut (with Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra) in 1925; then, after being virtually absent from the concert platform during three decades devoted principally to teaching, he re-emerged in the 1980s to some acclaim.
I find his approach to this music a little peremptory and unspacious, with tonal beauty kept on a tight rein. Nevertheless, it is wholly alive and at no time in vigorous outer movements do we lose purpose or momentum. As for the slower ones, Shumsky and Seymour Lipkin keep them on the cool side but still convey their clean Scandinavian poetry and melodic charm.
The recording is of a kind with the performances, a little tight-lipped and with a refreshing cleanness, although more favourable to the violinist's tone than to that of the pianist, which sounds damped down. These are certainly performances to be heard, not least for their reflection of an older style of playing nearer to Grieg's time than our own. However, they do not displace the readings of the same three sonatas by Augustin Dumay and Maria-Joao Pires, who bring far more warmth and youthful vigour to this attractive music and are also more vividly recorded.
'