The title refers to a ‘golden age of violin playing’, nebulously defined in the booklet by ‘the artistry of the likes of Bronisław Huberman, Jacques Thibaud and later Henryk Szering’, none of whom played any of the repertoire on offer here. ‘Music of the 1920s’? No fewer than 11 of the 15 pieces were not written during that decade. Bizarre. Although I enjoyed Röhn’s earlier disc ‘The Kreisler Story’ (Berlin Classics, 2/17), which showcased a violinist of great promise, this disc is not quite so consistently successful.

So what have we actually got in this mis labelled bran tub? First off is quite a discovery: Heifetz’s ‘concise version’ (ie medley) of An American in Paris, unearthed only a few years ago among the violinist’s papers. It’s a promising start albeit somewhat compromised by the hi-mom-look-at-me orchestral arrangement by Stephen Buck, whose handiwork also threatens the prominence of the soloist in the two other Gershwin-Heifetz numbers and the 18th Variation from Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The latter features, for reasons unknown, a part for the bandoneón, giving the piece, according to Röhn, ‘Parisian flair’, an element that is neither desirable nor relevant. Buck’s arrangement of a suite from the music written by the forgotten Gottfried Huppertz for the great 1927 sci fi silent Metropolis is attractive if nothing like as effective as the one conducted by Frank Strobel (Capricicio) in which the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin rather show up the weedy strings and other inadequacies of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra.

It is the orchestra, rather than piano, that accompanies three further Heifetz titles from the more than 50 short works he recorded for Decca between 1944 and 1946. Röhn makes a creditable stab at Burleigh’s fiendish Moto perpetuo, Weill’s ‘Mack the Knife’ (the phrase-endings lovingly tapered like Heifetz’s) and the traditional Irish air Gweedore Brae, the last two stylishly arranged by Jarkko Riihimäki. Still and all, and leaving aside his heavy intakes of breath, Röhn is no Heifetz. And, really, if you choose to play Chaplin’s theme from Limelight and Hollaender’s haunting song ‘Ich weiss nicht, zu wem ich gehöre’ (listen to Marlene Dietrich or Ute Lemper), please add a pinch of rubato to the mix.