A quote from the American Record Guide sums up my feelings after listening to Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin playing Schubert's Fantiasie D 934 in 1931: “Why is it that pre-WW II chamber music recordings – this one is a good example – are almost invariably more relaxed and laid-back in style; sweeter, riper and richer in tone; smoother and more refined in execution; more involved and overtly communicative in execution; more focussed on rhetorical style and architectural integrity?”

I could not have put it better myself. Pre-1940 Schubert (and Bruckner) laid down standards of performance that simply did not transition to the more recent world. When Busch and Serkin play, the focus is simply and purely on the music; tricks of performance, feats of violinistic or pianistic excellence, simply play no part in the music making. Busch and Serkin playing Schubert in 1931 join the short list of recordings that have never subsequently been bettered. Or even equalled.