Детали релиза : Yehudi Menuhin - The Great Violin Concertos (2005) [FLAC (tracks + .cue)]

These recordings, mostly dating from the late 50s, catch Menuhin at a low point in his technical decline. Reviewers here haven't touched on the oft-told story of how this famous child prodigy lost his technique almost entirely in early adulthood and had to struggle back painfully (through enormous discipline, spiritual practice, and relearning the instrument from scratch) until he was a semblance of his former self. Beneath the out-of-tune playing and awkwardly slow passage work remained a great musician. But of all instruments, the violin is almost impossible to listen to when intonation is sour.

It is frequently sour on these CDs. The Beethoven in particular sounds faulty. Yet the early stereo versions of the Bruch concerto with Walter Susskind and the Mendelssohn with Efram Krutz are great examples of Menuhin's undiminished artistry, which transcended technique. The 1957 Brahms concerto, accompanied by Rudolf Kempe and the Berlin Phil. in quiet, civilized fashion, allows Menuhin to expand musically, and he has moments of lyrical beauty that are deeply touching. But all the fast passages are marred by intonation problems and smudged fingering, and his technique isn't adequate to the first movement cadenza. Every performance is worth a listen, but I would be cautious about a colleciton of sometimes painful memories. Menuhin recovered enough to play well in the Beethoven concerto for Otto Klemperer later on, and of course there are a series of classic post-war recordings in good, clear mono with Furtwangler that spiritually soar while also holding their own technically.

Review by By "Santa Fe Listener" on amazon.com