Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven; Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos / Furtwangler, Menuhin
List Price:
Our Price: $7.97
You Save: $4.01 (33%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $5.00 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Composer: Ludwig van BeethovenComposer: Felix Mendelssohn
Conductor: Wilhelm Furtw?ngler
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1999-05-04
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
- Violin Concerto In D, Op. 61: 1. Allegro Ma non Troppo (Cadence: F. Kreisler)
- Violin Concerto In D, Op. 61: 2. Larghetto
- Violin Concerto In D, Op. 61: 3. Rondo (Allegro) (Cadence: F. Kreisler)
- Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64: 1. Allegro Molto Appassionato
- Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64: 2. Andante
- Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64: 3. Allegretto Non Troppo- Allegro Molto Vivace
Free Music Notes for Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven; Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos / Furtwangler, Menuhin
Free Music Review: Choosing between two versions from Menuhin and Furtwangler
Hit: 4 Stars
In the Beethoven, reviewers here consistently prefer the live 1947 radio broadcast from the Lucerne Festival over this 1953 studio recording from London. I'm not sure the choice is that clear, however, until one knows the salient details.
Lucerne 1947: Historically, this is a touching momento of Menuhin's decision to appear with Furtwangler soon after the war, at a time when the conductor's de-Nazification was slow and painful. Menuhin's gesture helped to rehabilitate Furtwangler in circles that had condemned him, and this Beethoven concerto performance shows how musically sympathetic the two artists were. Menuhin is placed far forward in Lucerne, his tone bright and at times shrill but nonetheless warm enough to listen to without wincing. His technique is adequate to the piece but no more.
Furtwangler gives almost an identical accompaniment in both recordings, although the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is notably less polished than the Philharmonia in the studio. Sonics are good radio mono. Tempos are the same in both recordings except for the slow movement, which is 2 min. slower in Lucerne. Menuhin opens the finale firmly and in tune.
1953 London: This studio recording is in quite good mono for its day, and the Philharmonia sounds especially warm and inviting. One notes a metallic edge in both orchestra and soloist at loud volumes (I haven't heard the latest remastering, which might have solved this problem). Menuhin's technique is no longer adequate to the part, though his interpretation hasn't changed in six years. He is quite out of tune beginning the finale, with gravelly tone on the G string. In both performances his approach is cautious rather than free and rhapsodic.
Furtwangler's accompaniment has great depth and lyric flow, without the drama he is capable of in Beethoven, however. It's often said that he felt constrained in the studio and freer in concert, but in this case both accounts are quite similar.
After all is said and done, the difference isn't so much interpretive but technical--Menuhin had slipped too far by 1953, at least to this listener.
The final and most important question is whether these are deeply felt and noble performances. Surprisingly, I didn't find them so this time around, but I did ten years ago. Subjectivity plays a crucial part in the role of the listener. I can sympathize with people who feel ennobled by these readings even though they have dimmed for me.
The Mendelssohn concerto from 1953 isn't an afterthought. This was always one of Menuhin's best pieces, and here he preforms it with moderate tempos and the kind of personal expression perfectly matched to Furtwangler's own. There are more mercurial readings but few as emotionally sympathetic.
Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven; Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos / Furtwangler, Menuhin Poster
Yehudi Menuhin and Wilhelm Furtw?ngler, born a generation apart and separated by a world at war, were nonetheless musical and philosophical soulmates. Their recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, made seven years after they first met, is one of the treasures of the EMI archive, a testament to a bygone era of spontaneous and deeply subjective music-making. There is a nobility to the reading that has never been equaled, an unforced passion that would be difficult for any of today's musicians to duplicate. The monaural recording is remarkably fine, with satisfying depth and abundant detail. --Ted LibbeyClassical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in BEETHOVEN's Violin Concerto...
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 / Romances for Violin and Orchestra: No. 1 in G Major, Op. 40; No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50Release date: 1992-03-10; Music CD
Best price: $6.19
Price in other shops:
![Great Violin Concertos [Germany] Image](/images/Great-Violin-Concertos-Germany-B000025KBO-X.jpg)
Great Violin Concertos [Germany]Release date: 1998-04-01; Music CD
Best price: $17.17
Price in other shops:
![Beethoven: Piano Concerto; Violin Romances [Netherlands] Image](/images/Beethoven-Piano-Concerto-Violin-Romances-Netherlands-B000026CCX-X.jpg)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto; Violin Romances [Netherlands]Release date: 1989-11-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.65
Price in other shops:
Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Romances 1 & 2Release date: 2006-01-10; Music CD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Violin RomancesRelease date: 2006-06-13; Music CD
Best price: $2.24
Price in other shops:
Beethoven, Mendelssohn: Violin ConcertosRelease date: 1995-01-24; Music CD
Best price: $85.67
Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata No. 5 "Spring"Release date: 1993-02-09; Music CD
Best price: $14.99
Beethoven: Violin Concertos; Bach: Partita No. 2, BWV 1004 - ChaconneRelease date: 2004-12-14; Music CD
Best price: $17.35
Price in other shops:
The Beethoven Collection: Violin Concerto; Violin RomancesPublished: 1988; Music CD
Beethoven: Violin ConcertoRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 "Pastorale"Release date: 1995-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
![Legend: David Oistrakh [CD & DVD] Image](/images/Legend-David-Oistrakh-CD-DVD-B00092760Q-X.jpg)
Legend: David Oistrakh [CD & DVD]Release date: 2005-07-19; Music CD
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops:
Furtwangler Conducts Brahms - Complete Symphonies, etc / North German RSO, Berlin PORelease date: 1999-11-16; Music CD
Best price: $33.97
Price in other shops:
Bach: Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo ViolinRelease date: 1994-02-15; Music CD
Best price: $10.69
Price in other shops:
Dvor?k: Cello Concerto; Tchaikovsky / Karajan, Rostropovich,Release date: 1996-01-23; Music CD
Best price: $7.59
Price in other shops:
Mozart: Violin ConcertosRelease date: 1993-08-10; Music CD
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops:
Furtwangler Conducts Beethoven - Beethoven: symphonies no 3,4,5, & 9, LeonoreRelease date: 2006-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $45.98
Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7Release date: 1996-01-23; Music CD
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops:
Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, RichterRelease date: 1999-03-09; Music CD
Best price: $7.48
Price in other shops:
Beethoven - Symphony no. 9 'Choral' / Furtw?ngler, Schwarzkopf, H?ngen, Hopf, Edelmann (Great Recordings of The Century)Release date: 1999-01-12; Music CD
Best price: $7.48
Price in other shops: