The booklet tells us that this performance of Beethoven's Triple Concerto has been made possible through the generosity and dedication of Mr Sabin Shukri. Born in Baghdad, Mr Shukri is a leading banker who passionately believes in music's power ''as a medium of international understanding'' and who now lives in the UK and is the Chairman of the Society for Music International as well as being active in more than one British musical institution.
The playing here is forthright, which is as it should be in music such as this with its naively rugged diatonic language. The members of the Trio Zingara are well matched both tonally and stylistically, and Edward Heath is a sympathetic accompanist, so that the rambling first movement of nearly 17 minutes is held together with a degree of tonal energy and momentum, and it does not quite outstay its welcome. Similarly the Largo is spacious and eloquent but retains forward movement, while the final Polacca, although more lyrical than some accounts, has the necessary bounce.
The producer John Boyden has given this performance a recording quality that is clear but also rather bassy and reverberant. For the most part the Trio Zingara are well balanced against the orchestral forces, but in the finale I often felt the piano sound to be unacceptably heavy. Comparison with the star-studded EMI issue does not necessarily find in favour of the Pickwick digital recording, for the 1969 Berlin sound has character and impact, and when we consider performance we certainly cannot set aside the more interesting and varied playing of Karajan's three mighty soloists—particularly when they too come at medium price. Still, the present issue is good value, and that fine cellist Felix Schmidt and his ''Jansen'' Stradivarius remind us that the Boccherini G major Cello Concerto is an attractive work with a strikingly expressive slow movement.'