For the first time ever the Menuhin Violin Competition is being held this year in the United States. The current competition began last Friday in Austin, Texas and continues until Sunday, March 2. Forty-two young violinists from all over the world are competing for prizes and a chance to appear with the Cleveland Orchestra in the closing gala concert. I’ll be blogging from the competition every few days. The first blog about the opening concert has already been posted on the LSM website.
Yehudi Menuhin (1916- 1999 ) was one of the great violinists of his time. At the age of eleven he played the Beethoven Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall. In 1932 he made a recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto with the composer conducting. In addition to a major career as a soloist Menuhin took a strong interest in teaching. In the 1960s and 1970s he established the Yehudi Menuhin School in England and the Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. He founded the Menuhin Competition in 1983.
In this video Menuhin plays Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Violin Op. 96 with Canadian pianist Glenn Gould.
Paul E. Robinson
