Edward Elgar is slighted in some classical circles as a composer of forgettable music. But I’m really drawn to a number of his works: among them, his late string quartet and piano quintet, his cello concerto, and the work I here want to highlight, the violin concerto in B minor, Op. 61. Each of these pieces is well worth discovering.
I was fortunate enough to come across a 1932 recording of Elgar’s violin concerto in a used CD bin here in Toronto. Issued as part of the Naxos Historical series, it features a sixteen year-old Yehudi Menuhin in breathtaking form, with the composer himself at the podium.
Had Menuhin’s voice even broken by the time he recorded this? I wondered. The performance made me forget I’d asked. Long story short: this is one of the best available recordings of Elgar’s music.
This particular session was also released by EMI as part of its “Great Recordings of the Century” series. EMI couples it with the composer’s Enigma variations. On this Naxos disc, we have it coupled with Menuhin’s 1931 performance of Max Bruch’s first violin concerto. To my ears, the Naxos issue is a better sounding disc. The source material, admittedly, places clear limitations on the sound; but producer Mark Obert-Thorn’s audio restoration is up to his usual high standard, and I’m grateful to have this historic performance in as vivid a sound as the source material allows.
It would be unfair merely to say that that Menuhin is in fine form on this occasion. This is musicianship of the highest caliber: a performance I would play for anyone who claims that child prodigies necessarily sacrifice artistry at the altar of showmanship. There is no spirit of display – no pomp, no circumstance – here. Though knee-high to a grasshopper, Menuhin is able to impart to the violin concerto a level of artistry which eclipses that of other, more seasoned musicians. So pleased was Elgar with Menuhin’s performance that he took the young violinist out for a day at the races (one of Elgar’s great hobbies) rather than take a stab at another take in London’s Abbey Road studio!
A historical document, certainly – but a living testament to the greatness of this music.
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Naxos Historical – Elgar / Bruch: Violin Concertos (Naxos 8.110902)
Yehudi Menuhin, Violin
London Symphony Orchestra
Edward Elgar, Conductor
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