Menuhin and Britten first performed together‚ Tully Potter reminds us in his typically informative booklet­note‚ in 1945‚ on a concert tour playing to Holocaust survivors. Though they collaborated subsequently on a number of occasions during the next 20 years‚ the partnership didn’t extend to commercial recording‚ so this issue of broadcast performances is especially welcome and valuable. The recordings‚ as remastered for BBC Legends‚ sound very well‚ and though we have to put up with some live­performance imperfections – audience coughs‚ a few missed notes on Britten’s part‚ and occasional rough tone from Menuhin – this doesn’t seem to matter at all‚ given the quality of playing and the sense of occasion. The Debussy (missing its first chord on my copy – is there any possibility of restoring it for future pressings?) is a splendid performance. So many of the exciting things in this Sonata happen in the left hand of the piano part‚ where Britten’s playing is extraordinarily clear and expressive. Menuhin’s virtuosity makes light work of the brilliant and fantastical passages‚ and he’s equally persuasive in the swooning‚ sensuous music. Virtuosity is the key to the Schubert Fantasy‚ too – the triumphant final section has a continuing thrust that more careful performers wouldn’t dare to emulate‚ and the elaborate variations are played with ideal delicacy and finesse. The Haydn has great verve and character‚ and if Menuhin isn’t quite at his best in the Schubert Sonata‚ it’s still a performance one would have been thrilled to attend.