Menuhin: Bartok Son #1 / Solo Sonata - Odeon PALP 1705
$
65
Favourite Auctions
To save auctions to your favourites, please login
If you don't have an account, please register
Description
ITEM DESCRIPTION:
This handsome LP from Odeon (PALP 1705, English EMI pressing, silver/black label – ED1, mono) features Yehudi Menuhin’s commanding and atmospheric accounts of Bartok’s Violin Sonata No. 1 Sz 75, recorded at EMI Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London on 13 May 1957 with the violinist’s sister Hephzibah, a splendid artist in her own right. Filling out the LP is Menuhin’s legendary, reading of Bartok’s Sonata for Solo Violin Sz 117, set down in the very same studio on 12 October 1957.
Wrote the critic A.R. in his July 1959 review for The Gramophone: “Bartok's Sonata for Solo Violin was composed for Yehudi Menuhin, who gave the first performance of the work in New York on November 26th, 1944. He showed me his copy of the score shortly before he performed the Sonata in London, and I have never forgotten the deep impression his close and detailed working over it made on me; it must have meant weeks of the most intense concentration, but a labour of love for Menuhin.
“He plays it, as he has always done, magnificently—some readers will have his "78" recording—and, though each had excellent points, he entirely surpasses the two versions listed above. Technically his playing is flawless and he penetrates to the heart of the music from the first bar to the last. My stereophonic equipment picks up the sound of the bow passing over the strings to a rather disconcerting extent in the high passages, without mute, of the beautiful Mel odia, but there are less extraneous noises than in the other recordings and a finer quality of tone.
“The first Violin and Piano Sonata, dedicated —as is the second—to Jelly.d'Aranyi, was given its first performance, with the composer at the piano, in London in March 1922. Today it presents no difficulty to the listener. The impassioned sections in the first movement, in which the piano has fistfuls of notes, are contrasted with tranquil but sorrow-laden sections of great simplicity; in the second of these the piano writing recalls the "night-music" in the first and third movements of the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta of fifteen years later. The slow movement begins with a long solo for the violin unaccompanied, the piano entering at last with three common chords— a marvellous moment—but playing a subsidiary part in this exquisite meditation. The last movement, a fiery rondo, though exciting, is not wholly convincing: there seems to me a certain air of contrivance about it.
“Menuhin and his sister are perfectly matched in this work and the balance, with an often very percussive piano part, is very good. As Halsey Stevens points out, in his excellent book on the composer, "the piano part, intricate as it is, is overshadowed by the violin, which has the leading role in all but a very few measures. The province of the piano is to underline, to intensify with penetrating comment, to elucidate;" and this is what Hephzibah Menuhin has so well understood. I hope brother and sister will soon give us a recording of the Second Sonata as fine as this one.”
Incidentally, the liner notes on the reverse (printed in English only) are by Malcolm Rayment.
CONDITION:
The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.
The condition of the jacket is VERY GOOD. There is a discreet 3 ½” seamsplit ot the upper edge, as well as minor bumping/wear at corners and a small bit or writing to the rear panel, but that is all. The fine laminate finish is perfectly intact and the album remains solid, bright, and glossy – overall, a handsome collector's copy.
The condition of the LP itself is similary EXCELLENT. Although the surfaces are not always CD silent, in general the playback is superb. If you must have a flawless copy, you are advised to look elsewhere – overall, this is an excellent collector's copy.
PLEASE NOTE:
The images I've provided are of the actual item you are potentially bidding on - these are not stock images or images I've taken from other sites. Bid with confidence!
PAYMENT:
Payment by PayPal is greatly preferred. Payment should be made within 7 days.
SHIPPING:
Shipping is free to anywhere in the world; this is true regardless of the number of LPs you buy, be it 1 or a 100. All LPs will be sent via standard airmail (7-10 days delivery). Note: There is no tracking number provided with standard airmail. Should you wish to have your item(s) sent via certified airmail (i.e., with a tracking number), please contact me. The fee for this $5.00 USD.
FEEDBACK:
I will promptly leave feedback for all buyers. Please do not leave negative, or even neutral, feedback without first giving me an opportunity to resolve any dissatisfaction you might have with an item or transaction. I do understand that, on occasion, a buyer might believe the item description to be inaccurate or that a buyer may be disappointed in some other way regarding the sale. I promise I will do my very best to resolve any unhappiness you've experienced in your buying experience with me to your complete satisfaction. Thank you.
REFUNDS:
Returns are honored, and any buyer you makes a return will be refunded in full. Please contact me before making a return.
Please see my other classical LP and CD auctions, and feel free to write with any questions, I'll be glad to help.
price rating
![janis joplin - big brother -cheap thrills-sealed 1st pressing[Columbia KCS 9700]](https://www.popsike.mobi/php/thumbnail.php?url=https://www.popsike.pics/pix/20170208/162388827525.jpg)
