Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven; Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos / Furtwangler, Menuhin

Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven; Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos / Furtwangler, Menuhin

Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven; Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos / Furtwangler, Menuhin
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Music CD Cover

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Composer: Felix Mendelssohn
Conductor: Wilhelm Furtw?ngler
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1999-05-04
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
  1. Violin Concerto In D, Op. 61: 1. Allegro Ma non Troppo (Cadence: F. Kreisler)
  2. Violin Concerto In D, Op. 61: 2. Larghetto
  3. Violin Concerto In D, Op. 61: 3. Rondo (Allegro) (Cadence: F. Kreisler)
  4. Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64: 1. Allegro Molto Appassionato
  5. Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op. 64: 2. Andante
  6. 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 Libbey

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