That meticulous and just observer of the violin world, Carl Flesch, expressed admiration for the playing of Jacques Thibaud but felt that his recordings did not do him full justice. Listeners to these examples from the great artist are unlikely to find any cause for disappointment: from the very first notes of his entry in the A major Concerto one is seduced by the sweetness of his tone and the elegance of his phrasing. His cantabile in the Adagio is likewise compelling; and that he did not rely only on lightness of touch is demonstrated by some vigorous bowing in the finale (where the pointed phrasing of its opening is again notable). His overlong cadenzas are questionable, but the only real defects of this performance are the insensitive, overweight orchestral playing (particularly stodgy and bass-heavy in the Adagio), Munch’s failure to agree with his soloist about the tempo of the first movement and his deplorable hurrying of every orchestral passage in the finale.
Biddulph have unfortunately printed incorrect tempo indications for the A major Sonata, in which Thibaud is partnered by the equally admirable Marguerite Long – Allegro moderato instead of Allegro molto for the first movement, and Allegro instead of Presto for the rondo finale. Even so, the speeds adopted by the duo for these movements are the fastest I have ever heard – which as a result dictated a lightness of approach that in itself is delicious, with rippling runs from the piano and the utmost grace from the violin. The two artists are perfectly matched in tone and phrasing, and the Andante (where alone a little surface swish intrudes) is outstanding for its tranquillity and delicacy. Thibaud’s rendering of an arrangement of the famous slow movement of the C major Piano Concerto is somewhat sugary, with sentimental portamentos.
Marguerite Long can be heard, on this predominantly A major disc, in all her Mozartian purity in the K488 Concerto. Her restraint and sure taste produce a reading of poetry, not at all of exhibitionism, and the limpidity of her passagework is a joy to the ear. The orchestral accompaniment is infinitely superior in musicality to that of the violin concerto, and though recorded five years earlier (exactly 60 years ago!) is cleaner in texture, if thinner. My one reservation concerns the cadenza, which though brilliant introduces a blatantly unMozartian key-change that made me wince.'