– Customer review on 31/10/2011

The box contains 50 discs, all with the great violinist, Yehudi Menuhin. Ten of the discs were recorded in the 1930s while Menuhin was in his teens. The sound on these recordings is not up to present standards but is acceptable. The remaining 40 discs were mostly recorded in the 1950s and 1960s with very good sound quality.
The set includes a booklet which takes 50 pages to just list the the names of the compositions, artists, and playing times. There is no discussion of the compositions.
The number of compositions is too numerous to mention all of them here. There are many short compositions, but the heart of the set is the violin concertos (the only major one that is missing is the Tchaikovsky). Here is a quick rundown of the concerto contents: Bach, 6 discs, including 2 discs of the marvelous 30s recording of the complete Partitas and Sonatas; Beethoven, 7 discs with four!!! versions of the concerto and three discs of the complete violin sonatas; Bartok; Berg; Berkeley; Berlioz, Harold in Italy (viola); Bloch; Brahms, two versions of the concerto plus the concerto for cello and violin; Bruch, two versons; Dvorak; Elgar (with Elgar conducting); Handel: Haydn; Lalo, Symphonie Espagnol, two versions; Mendelssohn; four !!! versions; Mozart; Nielson; Paganini, two versions of the first plus one of the second; Panufik; Saint-Saens; Sibelius; Vieuxtemps; Vivaldi, including the Four Seasons; Walton; and Williamson.
Because of the age of these recordings, none of them would be the first choice of any current classical music reviewer. But, Menuhin's performances are all first rate and no other violinist has recorded with the tone and intensity of which he was capable (listen to the Bruch and Paganini). Amazon is currently offering the set for $68. That comes to about $1.40 per disc!!! This is an amazing bargain that will not last long. Get your box before they're sold out.