These works are merciless in exposing a performer's technical weaknesses. Consider for instance the opening of the Ciaccona: four-note chords lie on the first and second beats of the first complete bar, but the main stress should be on the latter; a violinist must perforce spread, and consequently give emphasis to both. One solution is to leave a little space between the two chords, as both Perlman (EMI) and Shumsky (ASV) do, but Mordkovitch and Chumachenco (Edelweiss/Conifer) do not—neither do the latter two differentiate them by weight or deftness of bowing. Another case in point is the Allemande of Partita No. 1, in which none of the four players avoids such over-emphasis (Chumachenco comes closest) and Mordkovitch's funereal tempo exacerbates the effect of heaviness—yet she enhances the dance character of the Bourree of the same Partita with some brisk string-crossing, where Chumachenco allows a little romanticism to intrude.
Mordkovitch projects a wide spectrum of emotion, yet at the warmer end it leans towards that of the later musics with which she has so far made her strongest mark; this is reflected in numerous tryingly slow tempos (Partitas Nos. 1/III, 2/I and III, 3/II, and Sonatas Nos. 1/I-III and 2/I). On the other hand she can pick up her heels when she has a mind to, despatching the last movements of Sonatas Nos. 1 and 3 'ahead of the field', handling the piano/forte contrasts in the latter (Allegro assai) very well, and without seeming to press them hard. In Partita No. 1 the tempo relationships between the Allemande and Sarabande, and their Doubles are sorely adrift—the dances too slow, the Doubles properly paced. Her observances of stylistic detail are commendable—crisp dotting, respect for original phrase marks and delineation of implied voices, but she refuses several trills that others rightly insert, and her detache delivery of some dances in the Partitas is overdone. In Partita No. 3 the customary return to the first Minuet is not made; Mordkovitch seems to be alone in thinking that, because he didn't write ''Menuet I da capo'' on the score, Bach didn't want it.
Like that of Perlman, Mordkovitch's approach is overtly virtuosic—albeit with more intense emotional heat and sometimes less awareness that dance titles imply ''danceable'' music. Chumachenco is more refined and often more poetic, but occasionally a little too much so. What Mordkovitch offers is masterly technique, and an emotional involvement that is heart-warming, if not always appropriate to the music—still a curious amalgam of scholarship and gut reaction. Like Shumsky and Perlman, she is recorded well forward, giving a flood of sound. Shumsky remains first choice in the field, but all must be measured by Sigiswald Kuijken's 'period-instrument' recording (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/BMG), from which modern violinists can learn applicable lessons.'