Bartók: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 and Contrasts

"Readers who habitually fight shy of Bartók's provocatively astringent piano writing might at first find these endlessly fascinating works rather unpalatable, the First Sonata especially. But careful scrutiny reveals manifold beauties which, once absorbed, tend to haunt the memory and prompt repeated listening. Jenö Jandó's piano playing is fairly forthright yet without the naked agression of, say, Sviatoslav Richter. And it provides an effective foil for György Pauk's warm tone and fluid solo line, especially in the First Sonata, where ungainly tone production could so easily compound the listener's discomfort.
Here, however, the interpretation is at once thoughtful and well shaped, and fully appreciative of the mysterious 'night music' that sits at the heart of the Adagio.
The Second Sonata is both gentler and more improvisatory, its language and structure - although still pretty formidable - somewhat in the manner of a rhapsody. Pauk and Jandó again hit the target, and the full-bodied recording makes for a homogeneous sound picture. To have a spirited performance of the multi-faceted Contrasts (with Kálmán Berkes on clarinet) as a bonus certainly helps promote this well- annotated CD to the front line of competition.
A confident mainstream recommendation, then, and superb value for money."
- Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010