That Inevitable Concerto Coupling

It sometimes seems that every budding international solo violinist has to record a coupling of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and the Bruch Violin Concerto No 1 ( he did write another though you would be hard pressed to find a recording of it ) The coupling here is a classic recording reissued as an EMI great recording of the century. The soloist is Yehudi Menuhin with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Efrem Kurtz in the Mendelssohn and Walter Susskind in the Bruch. These two works have become ubiquitous because of their great romantic sweep and memorable melodies, as well as for the opportunites that they afford for the soloist to show off his virtuosity. It's easy to say that because they are so popular and appeal to the casual Classic FM daytime listener they must be without worth but like most such classics, they have fine musical qualities that transcend mere kitsch. Menuhin had recorded the works as a child prodigy in the thirties but these are re-recordings made to take advantage of advances in sound technology by the late fifties. The sound and performance practice stand up well.