Aaron Rosand is now in his seventies but his marathon recording career continues in full flow. Since he began to record for Vox in the 1950s‚ he’s given us‚ in addition to much of the standard violin repertory‚ a large number of neglected works; his fine technique and passionate sense of commitment have brought back to life works like the concertos of Ernst and Joachim that few modern violinists have dared to perform. And‚ indeed‚ it’s the relatively unfamiliar Second Concerto of Bruch that’s the most revelatory performance on these discs. Throughout the long‚ slow opening movement‚ Rosand keeps us spellbound through the sheer richness and variety of his response to the music; intense drama alternating with beautifully soft‚ sweet‚ unpressurised playing of the second subject. His strong presence and feeling of involvement carry the recitative­style middle movement‚ and there’s a devil­may­care brilliance in the virtuoso passages. After this the finale is slightly disappointing‚ not on account of Rosand’s performance‚ which is stylish‚ spirited and polished‚ but because of the rather shallow recorded sound‚ and the somewhat workaday orchestral playing. Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus’s accompaniment for Accardo‚ full of bounce and finely balanced‚ shows what a positive contribution the orchestra can make here. Rosand’s account of the Paganini also has many fine aspects. He plays the lyrical melodies with exceptional sensitivity‚ and in the second movement understands how he can enhance the sense of pathos by playing simply and quietly. He has‚ too‚ all the panache needed to bring off Paganini’s high­wire virtuosity. But‚ for me‚ this performance is marred by alterations to Paganini’s text. One is used to a certain amount of violinistic editing here‚ but there’s more than usual‚ as well as some large­scale butchery – most of the opening orchestral introduction is cut‚ and there are two more substantial excisions in the finale. Paganini may not have been a Beethovenian master of symphonic construction‚ but he understood how to give his large­scale works the most effective proportions. There are some textural changes on the recent Bruch disc‚ too. Rosand changes the composer’s phrasing at several places in the First Concerto‚ and even recomposes two bars in the finale. In the last movement of the Scottish Fantasy‚ admittedly a rather repetitive piece‚ there are more cuts. But Rosand at 73 plays with the same fine tone‚ the same enthusiasm‚ panache and technical control as ever. The Concerto’s finale‚ and the quick movements in the Fantasy do have a feeling of heaviness and effort that I don’t remember noticing before‚ but all the cantabile music – the Concerto’s Adagio‚ the Romance‚ and the penultimate movement of the Fantasy – show Rosand’s characteristic spontaneity and warmth of expression undiminished. The dramatic‚ rhetorical style of the Concerto’s Vorspiel is perfectly caught‚ too. The orchestral sound is attractively full and rounded‚ though the playing sometimes lacks the last degree of refinement. The reissue is well worth hearing for the splendid Bruch Second Concerto; the recent Bruch performances‚ though not perhaps top recommendations for these works‚ show a great performer still able to weave his spell.