With his creamy tone, his powerful interpretations, and his not always impeccable but always effective technique,
Yehudi Menuhin was surely one of the great violinists of the twentieth century. And with his generous heart, his compassionate soul, and his always and everywhere profound spirit,
Menuhin was likewise plainly one of the great humanitarians of the twentieth century. But with his sloppy technique, his turgid tempos, his weighty rhythms, and his way too thick textures,
Menuhin was by no means any more than a less than mediocre conductor. In this 1989 recording of Mozart's last two symphonies,
Menuhin leads the
Sinfonia Varsovia in performances that are at best serviceable and at worst forgettable. True, one can still tell it's
Menuhin on the podium -- the depth of tone and the warmth of emotions give him away -- but that's about the only reason to hear this recording because, even with the best will in the world, there's still so much more to the music than is in these performances. The list of great recordings is just about endless -- for starters, try
Furtwängler's for dramatic intensity or
Walter's singing lyricism or
Toscanini for tensile strength or
Klemperer for commanding power -- but, unless you need to have everything
Menuhin ever recorded both as a violinist and a conductor, there's no compelling reason to hear these recordings. Virgin's early digital sound is big but too heavy, round but too wide, resonant but too boomy.