Bartok's two mature violin sonatas are probably the greatest written this century, although neither yields its secrets easily. The Second (1922) is the more personal and introspective of the two; it was Bartok's own favourite and a wonderfully fluent statement of it survives in a 1940 recording featuring the composer himself at the piano, with his friend and advocate Joseph Szigeti on violin (Hungaroton—part of a six-CD set; also available on a single CD—Vanguard (CD) 08.8008.71). Gusztav Fenyo, the pianist on the present recording, is related to the sonata's dedicatee, Jelly d'Aranyi, but it is his partner, the young German-born violinist Susanne Stanzeleit, who is best equipped to transmit the Magyar tang of Bartok's solo writing—which she does, with something resembling d'Aranyi's full but rather dry tone.
In the Solo Sonata, the only true heir to Bach's unaccompanied violin works (its opening Tempo di ciaccona was surely a conscious gesture of homage), Stanzeleit etches some strong contours, but doesn't quite match Mullova (Philips) for refinement, or the work's dedicatee and crowning interpreter, Menuhin (EMI References, 10/89—nla) for depth of feeling, especially in the ''Melodia''. However, she is rarely less than convincing, and her grasp of the music's idiom is impressive. Much the same can be said of Fenyo's piano playing, which has a quiet but firm presence, and even sounds rather like Bartok's own—rounded, spontaneous, secure and un-aggressive. Both artists bring plenty of light and shade to the Rhapsody and Romanian Folkdances, and the recording is good, although I occasionally craved a less forward placing of the soloist and a fuller delivery of tone from the pianist. Otherwise, this is an enjoyable and instructive disc, and augurs well for the forthcoming second (and presumably final) volume.'