While there is obvious sense in combining all of the sonatas by a particular composer for a particular instrument on one disc (as in the cases of all the comparative versions listed above), with as prolific a figure as Hindemith some may find such a diet too much of a good thing. For their complete survey of his 40-odd sonatas, Dabringhaus und Grimm’s solution is to vary the palette in each issue: here we are given the last two sonatas in each instance of his output for violin (1935, 1939) and viola (1922, 1939) with piano accompaniment, plus the short sonata for viola d’amore (1922). It is an intelligently programmed recital, with the two shortish violin works framed by the slightly more substantial ones for viola, that for viola d’amore serving as an ‘overture’.
As to the individual performances, all of which are of a high calibre, their recommendability lies principally in their context. Ida Bieler and Thomas Brandis do not surpass Wallin and Pontinen in the violin pieces; and measured against the first choices for the viola sonatas, Enrique Santiago lacks Imai’s fire (Kashkashian’s also) in Op. 25 No. 4 and Cortese’s warmth of tone in that of 1939. Ivo Bauer has the field to himself in Op. 25 No. 2, and Kalle Randalu’s accompaniments are near perfect. The excellent notes are by Giselher Schubert. Those who like completeness may already have at least some of the other accounts above; but given the parameters of Dabringhaus und Grimm’s project these are not really clear-cut rivals.'