Beethoven Violin Concerto with Arthur Grumiaux

Arthur Grumiaux was not the most charismatic of the great violinists of the last century; but he was certainly one of the most musical. Back in distant 1974, if you had wished to make a great recording of Beethoven's violin concerto, the assembly of the Concertgebouw Orchestra with Colin Davis conducting, Arthur Grumiaux playing the solo part, and the Philips team recording, would have been all you needed. With Grumiaux, you put away the Beckmesser slate; technically and musically he does not put a foot wrong, his tempi are completely uncontroversial, his choice of cadenzas (Kreisler's) avoids all Lang Lang type attention drawing. In all lists of “the best” or “the top” recommendations, Grumiaux is more often than not forgotten in preference to more high profile violinists. But for pretty well all the violin repertoire, Grumiaux should always be in the top three choices; you always get the music, the whole music, and nothing but the music. No histrionics, no attention seeking. I really enjoyed his 1974 performance of the Beethoven concerto this afternoon, and marvelled at the truly excellent original recording and later CD transfers by Philips. Three stars all round.