Béla Bartók - Violin Concerto No. 2; Suite No. 2 (Yehudi Menuhin; Antal Doráti)

Information

Composer: Béla Bartók

• Violin Concerto No. 2
• Suite No. 2 (revised 1943 version)

Yehudi Menuhin, violin

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

Antal Doráti, conductor

Date: 1957; 1955

Label: Mercury

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Review

Sir Yehudi Menuhin's second recording of Bartok's Second Violin Concerto under Antal Dorati (he made three with him in all, plus one under Furtwangler, now on EMI References, 10/89) was taped at Carnegie Hall during the early hours of a cold February morning, immediately after the same forces had played the work as part of an all-Bartok concert. At the time, Menuhin's performance was hailed as having ''a ruggedness and rhapsodic exuberance which gave it earthiness'' (Jay S. Harrison, New York Herald Tribune), although the actual recording more suggests poise, restraint and an appealing inwardness – especially in the closing moments of the Andante tranquillo (say, from 7'50'' into track 2) and the delicate, waltz-like passage with percussion 1'59'' into the third movement (beautifully conducted by Dorati). Collectors who already own the first Menuhin-Dorati collaboration (recorded by RCA back in 1946) are advised to rest content (both this version and its EMI successors have a somewhat rougher countenance), although the Mercury recording is worth having just for the sake of the Minneapolis players' often incisive phrasing.

The Second Suite is a comparative rarity – although here I'll confess that when I played this recording at a 'blindfold' listening session, my colleagues were completely stumped both by the music and its interpreters. And although it is true that neither the work nor its performance is likely to set the world alight, many will respond, I'm sure, to the music's warmth, ebullience and romantic resonances (Richard Strauss was a certain influence, especially in the Allegro scherzando and final Commodo). Dorati's performance is full of life, though occasionally let down by some rather weedy string tutti. As to the recordings, suffice to say that the 'Mercury method' makes Carnegie Hall sound like the Northrop Auditorium (the company's regular location for this orchestra) and that both sessions yield the expected close balancing, clear definition and beefy timpani sound. There is some tape rumble (and hiss), but in other respects the tapes come over reasonably well. Mercury's annotation is extremely informative.

— Gramophone

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Béla Bartók (25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist who is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century. As an ethnomusicologist, his fieldwork with the composer Zoltán Kodály formed the basis for all later research in the field. Bartók employed folk themes and rhythms into his own music, achieving a style that was nationalistic and deeply personal. His notable works include the opera Bluebeard's Castle (1911), 6 string quartets (1908–39), the Mikrokosmos piano set, Concerto for Orchestra (1943), and 3 piano concertos (1926, 1931 & 1945).

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Yehudi Menuhin (22 April 1916 – 12 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor, who is considered one of the leading violin virtuosos of the 20th century. He was a student of George Enescu and Adolf Busch. As a teenager he toured widely, winning admiration both for his technical proficiency and for his musical interpretation. During World War II he performed some 500 concerts for Allied troops. Menuhin gained note for introducing into his concerts rarely performed and new music, such as that by composer Béla Bartók. He also ventured into different genres such as jazz and Indian classical music.

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