The Polish-born Huberman was 51 years old when he recorded these concertos in two days in June 1934. His style seems to hark back to an earlier school of the late nineteenth century, for he uses a slow, wide vibrato, a good deal of portamento, and plays in a very free, expressive style with a peculiarly rich, sweet quality of tone. In his own time Huberman enjoyed fame but provoked a good deal of controversy. Today's musicians still disagree about his merits, but there's no denying the strength and individuality of his art. Personally I enjoyed his performances of the Bach concertos, even with the VPO's big, beefy accompaniments and the piano continuo, for everywhere there is strong personality, 100 per cent commitment and high musicianship. But I can understand anybody who feels that the playing is overbearing and overblown. The Mozart is perhaps a little more acceptable to modern ears, though the style is still richly romantic and highly expressive.
Transfers are not quite up to Pearl's usual standards, for they are a little wiry in quality, and distortion is by no means confined to the one movement where the notes warn us that it will be present as a result of a fault in the original recording.'