Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto / Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole (with Chausson: Poeme)

The music of Mendelssohn was to run like a leitmotif through Menuhin's life. It was he, for example, who made the early Concerto in D minor popular, recording it three times. Altogether he recorded the E minor Concerto four times, the version reproduced here, made when Menuhin was at the peak of his technical powers, did not do so well in the market-place as the 1958 recording, although it was well received. The war limited its distribution and it had strong competition first from Joseph Szigeti's recording and later from those by Mischa Elman, Heifetz and Milstein. Nevertheless Menuhin always had more to say in this concerto, especially in its moments of introspection and transition, than any of his rivals. In some ways this is the best played of his four versions and it is an essential part of the Menuhin discography. Menuhin's recording of Lalo's Symphonie espagnole was the first to be made of the complete five-movement work.