Yehudi Menuhin: recordings 1938/71

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Camille Saint-Saëns, Guillaume (Jean Joseph Nicholas) Lekeu, William Walton, Lennox (Randall Francis) Berkeley, Ernest Bloch, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Robert Schumann, Jean Sibelius, (Amedée-)Ernest Chausson

Label: HMV

Magazine Review Date: 8/1986

Media Format: Vinyl

Media Runtime: 0

Catalogue Number: EX290864-3

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra	Ernest Bloch, Composer Ernest Bloch, Composer Paul Kletzki, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra	Lennox (Randall Francis) Berkeley, Composer Adrian Boult, Conductor Lennox (Randall Francis) Berkeley, Composer Menuhin Festival Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Sonata for Violin and Piano	William Walton, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano William Walton, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 3	Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Gaston Poulet, Conductor London Symphony Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Poème	(Amedée-)Ernest Chausson, Composer (Amedée-)Ernest Chausson, Composer Adrian Boult, Conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin

Label: HMV

Magazine Review Date: 8/1986

Media Format: Cassette

Media Runtime: 0

Catalogue Number: EX290864-9

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra	Ernest Bloch, Composer Ernest Bloch, Composer Paul Kletzki, Conductor Philharmonia Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra	Lennox (Randall Francis) Berkeley, Composer Adrian Boult, Conductor Lennox (Randall Francis) Berkeley, Composer Menuhin Festival Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Sonata for Violin and Piano	William Walton, Composer Louis Kentner, Piano William Walton, Composer Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 3	Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Gaston Poulet, Conductor London Symphony Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
Poème	(Amedée-)Ernest Chausson, Composer (Amedée-)Ernest Chausson, Composer Adrian Boult, Conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra Yehudi Menuhin, Violin

Author:

When this set of records arrived with the words Yehudi Menuhin in large letters on its front I merely glanced at it and my heart fell; for here, I thought, would be a collection of reissues of Menuhin playing the concertos for which he is most famous, the Beethoven, Brahms et al. Never have I been more mistaken! It is a remarkable retrospective viewing of his career, from his early days of recording on 78rpm discs from 1938 onwards and a very worthy and enterprising 70th birthday tribute from EMI, demonstrating what some of us may have forgotten, what a searching and wide repertoire he has had, typical of the man himself. Menuhin, as this collection shows, has never been content to tout a handful of the classics from concert to concert. It is only halfway through these records that we come upon a concerto that is really popular nowadays, the Sibelius—and as Bryan Crimp tells us in his informative note in the booklet, there is a special reason for the inclusion of this.
I wonder how many readers have ever heard Menuhin, or any other violinist for that matter, play the Violin and Piano Sonata by Ildebrando Pizzetti. This is thought to be its first recording. The work was composed in the last days of the Great War and was finished soon after. It is a strong and passionate piece, with only the middle movement suggesting some sort of comfort, and Menuhin and his sister Hephzibah, give it an outstanding performance. (Hephzibah, as you can hear from this sonata, was an underrated pianist, doubtless because she was inevitably overshadowed by her famous brother.) The Lekeu Sonata on the reverse is slightly better known, though it can scarcely ever have received a more committed performance than this brother and sister give it.
I mentioned the special reason for including the Sibelius Concerto. It is odd that for all his enterprising repertory, Menuhin never played the work until 1955 when he was invited to perform it in Helsinki on the occasion of the composer's 90th birthday, an occasion that no doubt especially persuaded him to undertake it. As a matter of fact there are occasional lapses in this performance which may be due to his learning the work for the concert. It is good and, as always with Menuhin, thoroughly musical; it just doesn't sound like a work he has known for years. The present recording was made soon after this memorable occasion.
There is no room—nor need—for me to comment on every item in this collection, for they are so interesting that the very titles should whet your appetite. I must add that the transfers of the works recorded on 78s are excellently done for the most part. I can only add that I have seldom heard a more fascinating box of records or one played with greater musicianship. It is good that Sir Yehudi has now taken British citizenship, for in spite of his international reputation he seems to have belonged to us ever since he made that famous recording of the Elgar Concerto with the composer conducting when he was scarcely more than a boy.'