Along with Casals’ 1927 London Symphony disc of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture (Naxos Historical 8.110976), these recordings – the Beethoven Symphony No. 1 is particularly rare – constitute the cellist’s complete pre-war recordings as a conductor. The Barcelona sessions made with Casals’ own orchestra, formed in 1919, were set down in a concentrated period of work over five days in early July 1929. They are notable for their unfussy and direct approach to Beethoven that reveal the music in honest, unvarnished and expressive terms. In Brahms’ Variations on the St Anthony Chorale, recorded just a few weeks before Casals’ 51st birthday, the London Symphony Orchestra plays with beauty of sound, excellent ensemble and characterful wind solos. Casals’ temperate direction stresses the lyrical and eloquent aspects of Brahms’ writing.