Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, one of which is a staple of the violin repertoire. At the height of his reputation he spent three seasons as conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society (1880-83). He taught composition at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik from 1890 until his retirement in 1910.

Click on image for full size printable inlay image	1 Introduction and andante 2 Scherzo and andante sustenuto 3 Finale
Click on image for full size printable inlay image	1st movement 2nd movement 3rd movement

"Campoli makes a beautiful thing of the Max Bruch; he has the right idea about it and the power to express that idea. The spacings of the rubatos is admirable-- never overdone and always affecting. Bruch was associated much of his life with choral singing, and Campoli brings out the singing quality in his romantically musing piece. The performance is entirely convincing. From the point of view of recording, the violinist is given favoured-nation treatment ; most of the time it is good that he should dominate the music, but the positioning leads to a slight excess of vibrato in the slow movement (though the orchestral balance here is good) and to an almost isolated prominence in parts of the finale. The New Symphony Orchestra comes out well if not brilliantly as the accompanying medium. Its tone as reproduced here leans towards the reedy, but is variable; even the warmer-toned passages are never full-bodied, and this facts tends to minimise the proportions of the Concerto. The bass seems a little more remote than the rest of the orchestra. The whole work as thus presented is very enjoyable." H. F. writing in the Gramophone August 1951

Despite Beulah’s careful re-mastering, you wouldn’t choose this version for its recording quality, though the affectionate but not over-indulgent performance merits hearing and the imbalance which placed the soloist too forward in the original pressings, at least in the opinion of the Gramophone reviewer, HF, seems to have been quietly corrected. Brian Wilson writing at Music Web International October 2011

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