Although the recording sets the violin a little far back—with the result that it perhaps comes across as a little restricted and lacking in fullness of tone—the first movement is nonetheless gloriously romantic, with insightful and radiant playing from Stanzeleit. Fenyo fully enters into the spirit of the work and is sensitive and accomplished—although possibly a little too strong at times. The second movement is rather restrained, but the performers create dramatic contrasts between the louder and quieter sections—a device which works well here. The final movement is given a powerful performance—Stanzeleit really captures this well, and the sonata ends on a strong and bold note.

Much of Stanzeleit‘s rendition of the 1915 (three-movement) first sonata is very idiomatic—she gets the feel of ‘the Delius sound’ well, and gives a particularly ecstatic performance of the final movement.

The second sonata was composed in 1923 when Delius was already an invalid. It could be argued to be the sonata that best encapsulates Delius’s ‘voice’. Stanzeleit here gives it a muscular and confident performance, getting into, and communicating, the idiom well.

The disc concludes with the third sonata. This is also well-played, with some pleasing shading in the violin tone in the second movement, and the performers also capture the quirkiness of this movement well.

There are several discs of Delius’s violin sonatas available, but this is a strong contender, and for a budget price disc you can’t go wrong with this recording.

Susanne Stanzeleit studied with such luminaries as Kogan, Milstein and Neaman. Gustáv Fenyö is a descendant of Joseph Joachim and one of Scotland’s leading musicians…The Naxos artists offer a forceful reading of the first movement of the 1892 (Op. posth.) Violin Sonata in B major its brio first pages sturdily stated…Delius’s Violin Sonata No. 1 was begun in 1905 when its first two movements were completed but it remained unfinished until 1915. Its predominant mood is of sweet reveries and nostalgia. The music is dance-like with snatches of bird-song melody and the odd passing cloud…the newcomers’ reading, although somewhat cooler, is quite moving.

The Second one-movement Violin Sonata, Delius’s shortest, was written only five years after the end of the Great War yet its prevalent character is one of optimism…The work is amazingly confident and firm considering the advance of the malady that was to cripple Delius’s remaining years. The last third or so of the work was apparently written down for him by his wife Jelka. Susanne Stanzeleit brings an engaging sweetness and sensitivity to [it].