• The summer hiatus is the time to sample star players of the past and hear how performance styles have changed. The latest release on the Biddulph label, specialists in historic string players, is Nathan Milstein: The US Armed Forces Recordings. Born in Odesa, Milstein (1904-92) left Russia and became an American citizen, also familiar on the concert platforms of Europe. In Massenet’s Méditation from Thaïs – here in two versions – the Ukrainian violinist’s sweetness of tone, elegance and lyrical slides (portamento) define this as playing from another era.
