The violinist will be honoured as Concertmaster Emeritus by the orchestra he has led for 23 years. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) was the most widely known violinist of the 20th century. A child prodigy, he recorded the Elgar Concerto at the age of 16 with Elgar conducting. His recording career spanned seven decades. The earliest discs were made for American Columbia in 1928, but from 1929 until 1998 he recorded for EMI. It is from his EMI catalogue that these 80 CDs are drawn (they are available separately, or in one box with a set of DVDs). Amazingly, these are not Menuhin’s complete recordings: his late conducting work and some duplications (such as Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnol) are missing. The landmark recordings are here: the 1932 Elgar; the complete Beethoven Sonatas with the distinguished pianist Louis Kentner; Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Bartók concertos under Furtwängler, and earlier sessions with his mentor, the Romanian composer Georges Enescu. The young Yehudi’s sheer panache and extraordinary musical instincts are a revelation: hear him delighting in his skill in the Virtuoso collection, in pieces by Sarasate and Fritz Kreisler recorded in the late ‘30s. In mid-career, Menuhin’s technique faltered; problems with his bowing arm plagued him from then on. You can hear it in his live performance of the Britten… Continue reading Get…

Baptised for the castle in Scotland’s capital, the Dunedin Consort’s reputation for Bach persists on this disc of concertos with Cecilia Bernardini, their regular leader, stepping up to the plate. The Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C Minor is famous for sustained lyricism in the second movement. Bernadini clutches mischievously at the apex of phrases in this and the Violin Concerto in E, interacting energetically with her collaborators, in this case oboist (and dad) Alfredo Bernardini. The older Bernadini offers a galaxy of dynamic detail in just the first note of the languid Sinfonia that opens the cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis. The glittering finale of the Violin Concerto in A Minor is one of Bach’s most cheerful movements in a minor key. Bernardini weaves in and out of accompanying layers to sublime effect. This work (and the programme in general) exudes more the impression of chamber music than of soloistic fireworks.For the Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor Bernadini is joined by Huw Daniel. The two violins dart in and out of the aural foreground and beautifully-judged swells on long notes is evenly-matched in intensity between the two soloists. The Grammy-nominated Dunedin Consort under founder and Bach specialist John Butt…

With some recordings, there is a risk of fatigue – a collection of works by the same composer, or for the same instrumentation, too similar in taste and sound. This is not the case with the latest release from the effervescent Fantasticus XL. This is not a vanilla performance by any means as this singular ensemble attacks a selection of baroque concerti with contagious energy. Johann Gottlieb Graun’s Viola da Gamba Concerto in C opens, and it sets an impressive benchmark. Soloist Robert Smith’s performance possesses the flexibility of a complex Pinot – in a matter of moments, his rich, layered tone will give way to an athletic tenor in the highest register. It’s an exposing piece, and Smith pushes and pulls the tempo to frequently unexpected delight. Jean-Marie Leclair’s Violin Concerto in G Minor is next, and Baroque violinist Rie Kimura maintains the sweetest of monologues while the ensemble brings the rumble to the sound, creating shade, by leaning in to moments of harmonic uncertainty. A Harpsichord Concerto in F by WF Bach completes the set. As a vehicle for Guillermo Brachetta’s virtuosity, it ticks all the right boxes as he flies through the quicksilver technical passages (especially in…

Reuben Blundell is an Australian-born conductor, whose mother played French horn in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. As a violinist, Blundell gained a place in the New World Symphony in Florida (under Tilson Thomas). He is now Music Director of several ensembles in New York and Philadelphia. One of these is the Gowns Arts Ensemble, a string orchestra, comprising ten musicians on this recording. The programme consists of a dozen short pieces for strings by American or American-based composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a time when Americans wrote in the European style, even if indigenous themes were used, as in the Omaha Indian Love Song and Chippewa Lullaby from Four North American Legends by Carl Busch (1914). It is interesting to hear music by Horatio Parker, who was the composition teacher of Charles Ives – arguably the first true American original – as well as Roger Sessions and Quincy Porter. Parker’s Scherzo for Strings is a brisk minor-key waltz, reminiscent of the work of one of his own teachers, Dvorˇák. Other composers include Arthur Foote (Air and Gavotte), Frederick Converse (Serenade), and Paul Miersch, a German cellist who played in both the… Continue reading Get…

Is there anything new that yet another recording of The Four Seasons can say? Probably not, and it’s certainly not said here. Nevertheless, this is a very fine (if traditional) recording by Canadian violin virtuoso James Ehnes. The Four Seasons formed part of a set of violin concertos composed for the occupants of a girls orphanage in Venice. Published in 1725, it is endlessly dazzling, virtuosic and irresistible, a toe-tapping set of pop songs. This recording makes no claims to historically informed performance or period arrangements (although mention must be made of Ehnes’ 1715 ex-Marsick Stradivarius); rather, The Four Seasons gets the full orchestral treatment, an ocean of shimmering violins working to magical effect, their upper-register interplay with Ehnes in Spring particularly transcendent. Two other violin showstoppers are featured here: Fritz Kreisler’s arrangement of Tartini’s Devil’s Trill Sonata, and Jean-Marie Leclair’s understated (in this company) Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 9 No 3, Tambourin. Both are performed with American pianist Andrew Armstrong, renowned for his dazzling technique and expression; on this evidence also an astute and sensitive chamber player (he and Ehnes have recorded two critically acclaimed Bartók collections). The recording is rich, resonant and present,… Continue reading Get…

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Why did it take a Czech immigrant to create the perfect American symphony in the German style? Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in