It's a shame this disc had to open with the Second Sonata: this is much the least successful piece, doggedly imitating Roussel or the Hindemithian Kammermusik style in the outer movements, and despite some appealing turns of phrase along the way, the rewards are relatively few. Suk and Hala do what they can with it, but whether Suk's shapely, poetic phrasing really shows the piece in the best light is a difficult question. Perhaps a more rumbustious, less careful approach would have been better. Whatever the case the gentle, lyrical opening of the Five Madrigal Stanzas comes as a heart-easing surprise after this, and here Suk and Hala really shine. I prefer their version even to that of Oliver Butterworth and Clifford Benson on Hyperion: no lack of poise or poetry there, but it's the Supraphon team who I find most involving—one senses more feeling behind the elegantly simple surface. Newcomers to this music should start here.
The Third Sonata is the most substantial work in content as well as in length. In many ways it's typical 'American' Martinu, full of singing syncopated tunes and airborn dance-rhythms—and there's a strong taste of the Fifth Symphony in the three-note dotted figure that dominates the first movement. Suk and Hala rise to the occasion, and the listener will probably find that this is the work that most rewards repeated hearings. Granted 49 minutes is a little on the short side—it would have been interesting (if nothing else) to hear the First Sonata. Nevertheless, worth investigating.'