David Bresch asked:

>Can anyone recommend a classic recording of this work, hopefully
>with all five movements?

I have a five-movement version by Arthur Grumiaux with the Lamoureux
conducted by Manuel Rosenthal.  If anyone knows how this music should
go, they would and, IMHO, did.  The CD also contains those other French
rarities, Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso and Havanaise,
Chausson's Poeme and Ravel's Tzigane, nearly 78' of music at Naxos price.
Recordings date from 1963 and 1966.  This is on an Australian Philips
Eloquence release and may not be available in this coupling elsewhere.

For those budget-conscious collectors - and isn't that most of us? - the
Eloquence series has been available in Australia for quite some time, and
some have had a mention or three in posts.  From what little I've seen of
the UK and German Eloquence releases, the cover art is different and AFAIK
the versions available are too, so it can't be assumed that a particular
Eloquence CD will be available worldwide.  Is there a US equivalent yet?

Gramophone reported the Eloquence series as going for Naxos's jugular.  In
this country at least, Eloquence is almost exclusively standard repertoire
with the occasional surprise such as Bloch's Voice in the Wilderness.  What
I find increasingly attractive about Naxos is the unusual material it's
releasing, many in first recordings, and I suspect many other listers have
similar feelings.  There's room for both and, dare I say it, Gramophone has
missed the point.

Richard Pennycuick
[log in to unmask]