One usually thinks of Brahms’s Hungarian Dances as light music, but evidently Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker does not. The levity and whimsy depicted in the photos of her gracing this release’s back cover and booklet belie her often monumental approach to Joachim’s effective arrangements for violin and piano.

The very first dance is a harbinger of things to come, where Höpcker’s deliberation and heavy sonority not only run counter to the music’s Allegro molto directive but also convey nothing of the idiom’s verve and abandon. No 2’s main theme contains fast-note up beats that are supposed to surge ahead, rather than to be pondered over in Höpcker’s manner. She imposes expressive devices throughout No 3 that are calculated to the point where you can predict them. While No 4 can stand being milked for tragic underpinnings, I prefer the dignified restraint and simplicity of Marat Bisengaliev’s recording (Naxos, 3/96). Höpcker’s forthright delivery of the famous No 5 does no harm but her italicised and overwrought way with No 6’s rubato is nothing less than a caricature, as is No 7’s opening section.

To be fair, there are times when Höpcker’s grand rhetorical gestures work to the music’s advantage, notably in her convincingly massive and orchestrally inspired rendition of No 14. So do the minutely calibrated ensemble values in No 13, where Höpcker and pianist Fabio Bidini work hand-in-glove matching their sotto voce articulation; indeed, Bidini follows all of Höpcker’s pushing, pulling and tugging to the proverbial nines. Höpcker does her best work when she gets out of her own way and channels vigour through direct means, as No 10 bears out. However, Höpcker’s artistic limitations begin to hit home in No 16, especially when measuring her stinging, over-intense use of vibrato next to the tonal variety that transpires through Oscar Shumsky’s seemingly understated yet subtly sophisticated traversal (Nimbus/MusicMasters). While you won’t hear a more opulently engineered edition of the Brahms/Joachim Hungarian Dances than this one, Shumsky’s less alluringly recorded cycle remains the one to have. And, for a download bargain, Aaron Rosand’s similarly stylish versions are coupled with his excellent performances of Brahms’s three violin sonatas (Musical Concepts).