Damnit. Damnit. I found another version of Bach’s Chaconne played so beautifully that I need to get it. Here I thought that I already know my favorite version of Bach’s Partitas and Sonatas and was set with my Menuhin version. Over the past few years, I’ve listened to several recordings and own a few, but I keep coming back to Yehudi Menuhin’s 1934 version recorded when he was but a teen. Yes, it has more intonation issues than his later recording and other versions played by Perlman and many others, and Kremer and Hahn play it beautifully and with more technical verve, but flaws and all, the Menuhin recording was my first “Chaconne love”, and I still find it powerful enough to move me to tears. Even the Szeryng version, which is quite good, doesn’t move me quite as much as Menuhin’s.
Unlike modern recordings, you can tell that this recording wasn’t recorded in a studio with fancy acoustics or high tech recording equipment, so the violin doesn’t ring as much as later recordings by Perlman, Hahn, et. al. nor does his violin have that vibrant zing to its tone. But the unmediated sound sounds so honest and refreshing; the tone is warmer and much more intimate.
Thus, despite the razzle dazzle of newer, more polished versions—some of which I own, I’ve been faithful to this one for the past ten years or so and have not been tempted to buy any more beyond the ones I already own.
Until today, that is.
Today, I heard a version played by Grumiaux (on my favorite nonclassical radio station, no less.) that sounded so beautiful that I actually stopped what I was doing for 15 minutes to finish listening to it and give it my undivided attention. It’s very different from Menuhin's, but alluring and sensual in its own way.
A few years ago, I swore off buying any more Bach unaccompanied violin stuff until I had a less lopsided collection (it’s currently very “B”-heavy), but darn it. I think I might need to break my Bach-fast and get a recording of the Grumiaux.
Because you know, it's not like the 3? 4? I already own are enough.
2 comments:
Have you explored any versions played on period instruments and/or with historically-informed performance practice? Discovering the early music in my teens was a big revelation to me. Of course, I love the old-fashioned recordings and the modern recordings on modern instruments without the HIPP as well.
Nooooooooo! Stop! I can't listen-er, read-further. Don't tempt me with any more ideas! As it is, I'm reluctant to even entertain the idea that I might've found a recording that might come close to my Menuhin version that I'm so partial to. I do not need yet another recording. It's bad enough that I'm breaking down and buying this recording. No more! Well, ok, maybe eventually, but my collection is so "B"-heavy that I really need to get more Sibelius and the like before I get yet another version of Bach's unaccompanied violin stuff. . ..
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