Yehudi Menuhin - Yehudi Menuhin: The Great EMI Recordings
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CD Details
Artist: Yehudi MenuhinEdition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 2009-04-21
Music Label: EMI Classics
Music reviews of Yehudi Menuhin: The Great EMI Recordings
Music Review: You Can't Go Wrong With This 50-CD Collection
Rating: 5 Stars
It's ironic that the Twilight of the CD Era should coincide with the Age of the Bargain Box. But so it is. EMI is clearly leading the way with huge omnibus collections devoted to some of the more significant figures among those in EMI's extensive roster.
Yehudi Menuhin certainly qualifies for this status. It is therefore fitting that EMI should release this 50-CD box on the tenth anniversary of his death. Though not the complete recorded ouvre of Menuhin, this set nevertheless represents the most extensive reissue of his work to date. It is also an astonishing bargain, particularly at current Amazon and Amazon affiliate prices. Since these prices are probably promotional, I would not delay in obtaining this box if you have sufficient interest in Menuhin and the remarkably diverse repertoire included herein.
Over the years I have owned and enjoyed many of these recordings, on vinyl disc, and later on CD. Though I haven't yet heard any of the CDs in this box (having just placed my order), I'm assuming that the remasterings are either the same, or not appreciably different, than those with which I am already familiar. If so, then I can vouch for the high quality of the sonics and digital transfers--from monaural (including 78-rpm), stereo and early digital sources which have always sounded good.
Among the treasures to be found here is the set of Bach *Sonatas and Partitas* that virtually launched Menuhin's international career in the 1930's, two historically and musically invaluable Beethoven Violin Conterto recordings under Furtw?ngler (one live, one studio), an early recording of the Elgar Concerto (with the composer conducting), a superb Brahms concerto with the BPO and Kempe from 1957 (so much warmer and more engaging than the overpraised Heifetz/Reiner from roughly the same period), an ever-fresh, and intensely satisfying, cycle of Mozart concerti with the Bath Festival Orchestra from the early Sixties (which includes two "spurious" but richly enjoyable works), some stylishly conceived and gracefully executed chamber repertoire from the Baroque period (Purcell, Corelli, Handel), two sumptuously played Brahms Sextets, enlivening jazz collaborations with Stephane Grappelli--the list could (and does!) go on and on.
The selection of repertoire for this collection reflects a discerning attempt to maximize diversity of styles and periods while showcasing Menuhin's best work in the studio. I was delighted to discover that a sizeable amount of unusual or at least unhakneyed repertoire has been included, such as works for violin and orchestra by Berlioz, Nielsen, Bloch, Berg, Bartok, Panufnik, Williamson, Tippett, chamber music by Spohr, Chausson, Poulenc, Enescu, Bartok, Boulanger, --along with predictable concert fare such as multiple versions of the standard concerti by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Bruch and Paganini (but, curiously, no Tchaikovsky). I was also pleased that the editors found so much room for chamber music; for, in addition to the works cited above, we are also given the complete Beethoven violin-piano sonatas (some in alternate versions), all of Schubert's piano trios as well as two of his duos, Brahms's Horn Trio, a smattering of duo sonatas by Mozart, Handel, Prokofiev (but, curiously none by Bach, whose cycle of six violin-harpsichord sonatas Menuhin recorded twice). Then there is the blooming, buzzing swarm of encore pieces by Kreisler, Dinicu, Sarasate, etc. Three works for solo viola and orchestra are also included (the "reconstructed" Bartok Concerto, the Walton Concerto and Berlioz' *Harold in Italy"), to remind us that Menuhin's versatility extended to instruments as well as repertoire.
Most of the works with orchestra feature world-class orchestras (in some cases ad hoc ensembles hand-picked by Menuhin himself) and first-rate conductors such as Furtw?ngler, Enescu, Dorati, Silvestri, Kempe, Boult, Boulez, Colin Davis, Fistoulari, Kurz, W?ldike, Tippett and Walton (the latter two in their own music). Accompanists include such distinguished figures as Kentner, Balsam, Enescu, Malcolm, and two members of his family (Hephzibah and Jeremy)--among other oustanding collaborators.
Given such a dazzling array of composers, periods, styles, idioms and such a distinguished roster of collaborators, it may seem curmudgeonly to entertain any complaints. Perhaps my sole complaint is that even this sumptuous feast could have been a bit more generous; for by reducing the multiple versions of standard repertoire concerti, more of Menuhin's work as a conductor and as a chamber musician could have been offered. For instance: Do we really need four Beethoven concerti (two with the same conductor--albeit a maestro of great historical significance), together with multiple offerings of his Romances? Do we really need *one* version of Vivaldi's *Four Seasons*, much less two? Instead, could we have been given at least one of those Bach duo-sonata cycles, more Handel, or perhaps some superb Menuhin-led Mozart symphony recordings with the Sinfonia Varsovia? Thankful though one must be for such bounty, one does wonder about such duplication of standard repertoire in a collection which aspires to be maximally representative, though by no means comprehensive.
What about Menuhin's playing? On the evidence of the many recordings I have heard over the years, it is always engagingly musical and warmly humane, if sometimes technically fallible. It is well known that Menuhin's technical facility began to decline fairly early in his career, so that by the 1950's his bowing could, on occasion, be erratic and his intonation likewise unreliable. But why should this bother us any more than the technical lapses and deficiencies of some great pianists? Pianophiles readily put up with glaring inconsistencies of pulse and rhythm from Schnabel, huge swaths of missed and wrong notes from Cortot, transcendental showmanship hiding a multitude of sins from Horowitz, glaring memory lapses from Richter. Indeed, few listeners complain about such pianistic shortcomings when interpretive insights are so rewarding; why, then, is Menuhin's equally searching artistry impugned on account of technical lapses no more or less serious than those committed by the aforementioned pianistic giants? If such criticism would be condescending in the case of Sviatoslav Richter (who was often well below form technically in both concert and recording), why would it be any less egregious in the case of Yehudi Menuhin?
Enough said. Given the the ridiculously low price, ambitious collectors cannot afford to pass up this remarkably capacious retrospective of a unique, and uniquely lovable, figure in the musical firmament of the Twentieth Century. Listen beyond the flaws and you will hear the musical meditations of a great-souled man.
Description of Yehudi Menuhin: The Great EMI Recordings
This 50-CD set features Sir Yehudi Menuhin's most celebrated EMI recordings, made during his extraordinary 70-year exclusive recording relationship with the company. Includes works by composers such as Bach, Berg, Beethoven, Bart?k, Brahms, Dvo??k, Enescu, Handel, Lalo, Mozart, Paganini, Sibelius, Vivaldi, and more!Also includes a bonus interview CD, entitled Yehudi Menuhin: Highlights and Recollections of a Legendary Life.
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