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

Information

Composer: Béla Bartók

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

Yehudi Menuhin, violin
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Antal Doráti, conductor

Date: 1957 (1-3), 1955 (4-7)
Compilation: 1995
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 [11/1995]

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Béla Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and an ethnomusicologist. Bartók is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology. Bartók's music reflects two trends that dramatically changed the sound of music in the 20th century: the breakdown of the diatonic system of harmony, and the revival of nationalism as a source for musical inspiration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k

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Yehudi Menuhin (22 April 1916 – 12 March 1999) was an American-born English violinist and conductor who is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Menuhin studied with George Enescu and Adolf Busch. He displayed exceptional musical talent at an early age; his first public appearance took place when he was only seven years old, while his first concerto recording was made in 1931. His recording contract with EMI lasted almost 70 years and is the longest in the history of the music industry. Menuhin played the Soil Stradivarius, as well as a number of other famous violins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehudi_Menuhin

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Antal Doráti (9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner for composition, and Béla Bartók for piano. He made his conducting debut in 1924, and over the course of his career, made over 600 recordings, mostly for Mercury Records. Doráti was especially well known for his recordings of Tchaikovsky's music. Other prominent composers in Doráti's recording career are Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky. He lived to make digital recordings, for English Decca Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antal_Dor%C3%A1ti

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