The double-stopping of the big theme in the Wieniawski and the audible bouncing of the bow in the lightning-quick passages of the Saint-Sa?ns show Milstein at his best. The Stravinsky is presumably based on the composer’s own arrangement for violin and piano (made with Dushkin), the violin taking not only the melody originally given to the bassoon but all the other phrases that could conceivably be regarded as melody. Here the orchestral part appears to be more than a restoration of the 1919 scoring with fuller woodwind added, conceivably owing something to the original 1911 scoring. In any case no one is likely to worry overmuch about the ancestry of what here becomes a delightful occasional piece, warmly performed. The recording favours the violin but no more than is permissible in such a collection of showpieces. - The Gramophone magazine
