Menuhin 75th Birthday Edition
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Alban Berg, Franz Schubert, Béla Bartók, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré, Carl Nielsen, Claude Debussy, Ernest Bloch, Felix Mendelssohn, Jean Sibelius, Maurice Ravel
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 4/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 353
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 763984-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 |
Béla Bartók, Composer
Antál Dorati, Conductor Béla Bartók, Composer New Philharmonia Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Concerto for Viola and Orchestra |
Béla Bartók, Composer
Antál Dorati, Conductor Béla Bartók, Composer New Philharmonia Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Viola |
Rhapsody No. 1 |
Béla Bartók, Composer
BBC Symphony Orchestra Béla Bartók, Composer Pierre Boulez, Conductor Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Rhapsody No. 2 |
Béla Bartók, Composer
BBC Symphony Orchestra Béla Bartók, Composer Pierre Boulez, Conductor Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Piano Trio |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Gaspar Cassadó, Cello Louis Kentner, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Sonata for Violin and Piano |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Jacques Février, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Lily Laskine, Harp Michel Debost, Flute Yehudi Menuhin, Viola |
Andante |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Gabriel Fauré, Composer Jeremy Menuhin, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Berceuse |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Gabriel Fauré, Composer Jeremy Menuhin, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra |
Carl Nielsen, Composer
Carl Nielsen, Composer Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra Mogens Wöldike, Conductor Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Fantasie |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Sonata for Violin and Piano (1838) |
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer Gerald Moore, Piano Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Trio for Horn/Viola, Violin and Piano |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Alan Civil, Horn Hephzibah Menuhin, Piano Johannes Brahms, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, 'To the memory of an angel' |
Alban Berg, Composer
Alban Berg, Composer BBC Symphony Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor Yehudi Menuhin, Violin |
Author: Stephen Johnson
Technical impurities aren't necessarily obstacles to greatness, as any admirer of Artur Schnabel, Alfred Cortot or Walter Giesking will testify; in fact it's surprising just how much imprecision one can tolerate if one is in tune with what a performer is trying to do. But for me Menuhin's not infrequent intonational lapses and rhythmic insecurity are real problems. A performance like that of the Berg Concerto can contain wonderful things—like Menuhin's rapt responses to the first appearance of the Bach chorale on the woodwind—alongside passages where the sense of effort actually becomes discomforting. And in this recording I don't feel that the Menuhin/Boulez partnership quite works: both seem to have different ideas about rubato in the final Adagio.
Even so there are things that are well worth hearing: all the Bartok items for instance (particularly the Rhapsodies and the splendidly soulful reading of the Viola Concerto), the Bloch—a powerfully expressive version of an underrated rarety, and the Nielsen, which if it doesn't quite match the consistent insight of
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
SubscribeGramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.