Here we have two very different No. 3s primarily linked, as the note astutely observes, by the fact that both were written—in less stern vein than hitherto—by composers seeking refuge in the States from uncongenial eastern European regimes. Both come up with arresting brilliance and brightness in this new CD re-mastering, but it was the Prokofiev that I enjoyed most, not just for the LSO's vividness of sound and the general blend and balance, but also because Previn and Ashkenazy each spontaneously igniting the other, make the music so completely their own.
With Solti in charge of the LPO, the Bartok struck me as a less personal kind of performance. It commands respect for its high voltage, yet did not move me as others in the catalogue less powerful have done. Here, too, I was sometimes bothered by balance. The piano often sounds too forward, with a touch of clanginess in the tone above a certain dynamic level. But there is great intensity from Ashkenazy in the slow movement's chorale, and its 'night music' section comes over with excellently defined detail from all.'