Cecile Ousset is an arrestingly ebullient artist, masculine in tonal command, who leaves her own distinctive stamp on everything she plays. Obviously her way is not the only way but I think everyone will welcome this coupling's transfer to CD. In the Grieg she and Marriner, like Lupu and Previn (Decca), steer a traditionally romantic midway course between the purple patchest of Zimmerman and Karajan (DG) and the fresh, spring-like exchanges (so subtly interwoven) of Bishop-Kovacevich and Davis (Philips). As a comparatively recent recording, this new CD has more bloom than that old Philips reissue (still my own favourite despite the age of the sound) even if individual instrumental strands (like the cello solo at bar i3 of the slow movement) are not quite as vividly delineated as in the rival Decca and DG performances.
In the Mendelssohn Ousset is up against Schiff (Decca). His is the lighter-fingered, more fanciful reading, enlivened by many darting discoveries in inner or under parts. But rhythmic stability is not one of Schiff's strong points here. In this context the more emphatic Ousset is always the winner.'