Yehudi Menuhin Reflects On His Experience Filming The First Ever Concert Filmed For Movie Audiences

Outstanding musician, citizen of the world, defender of tolerance - this film is to honor the memory of Yehudi Menuhin on the occasion of his 90th Birthday in 2006. The focus of the film is on previously unreleased footage from the legendary Hollywood music film, “Concert Magic” from the year 1947. In interviews and conversations with his biographer Humphrey Burton Yehudi Menuhin recalls the origin of the film, the war and post-war era in America and Germany. Special attention is paid to his commitment to the victims of World War II. These include great artists forced into American exile such as fellow musician Béla Bartók. During the Second World War Yehudi Menuhin helped to raise the spirits of war victims and refugee children with numerous concerts. He supported artists in American exile, performed for an audience of freed prisoners of the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, and in war ravaged Berlin he played demonstratively under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwängler. Looking back at the mid-1940's it is clear to see with what passion Menuhin linked his goals of musical excellence with a dedication to social causes. He used music to plead for justice and reconciliation often against strong resistance. Subscribe to EuroArts: https://goo.gl/jrui3M Chapters: ▷ 00:00 - Yehudi Menuhin and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto ▷ 01:00 - Menuhin’s Earliest Concert Film ▷ 02:34 - Filming Live Music in Hollywood in 1948 ▷ 04:40 - Menuhin Reflects on His Violin Technique ▷ 06:38 - A Lifelong Friendship with Antal Doráti ▷ 09:27 - Pianist Adolph Baller and Their Wartime Concerts ▷ 12:24 - Charlie Chaplin: Artist, Hero and Inspiration ▷ 14:27 - Childhood Memories of Vaudeville and Music Hall ▷ 16:38 - Menuhin’s Celebrated Berlin Debut ▷ 18:00 - Returning to Germany After the Holocaust ▷ 20:01 - Confronting Anger in a Displaced Persons Camp ▷ 23:20 - America at the End of the Second World War ▷ 25:28 - Postwar Optimism and Bringing Music to the World ▷ 28:30 - The Shared Experience of a Concert Audience ▷ 30:02 - Performing for the Audience—and for Himself ▷ 32:40 - Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Musical Identity ▷ 34:44 - Menuhin Reflects on the Film and His Legacy ▷ 36:01 - On the Encores In 1948 “Concert Magic” was filmed in Hollywood making it the first ever concert filmed for movie audiences. Yehudi Menuhin and other internationally renowned interpreters played classical and romantic works and created a worldwide success for the director Paul Gordon. At 32 years old, Menuhin, the featured performer was at the height of his career. In addition, many short films were made to fill the space between the traditional "double features". They were also often used as encores when enthusiastic audiences demanded them and feature works by composers whom no one knew Menuhin performed. Among these encores is an especially valuable rarity, the violin concerto of Felix Mendelssohn. The length (ca. 25 minutes) prevented it from inclusion in the film. This footage shows Menuhin’s very first recorded performance of the violin concerto under Antal Dorati. Even music specialists are unaware of the existence of this previously unreleased material! Written and directed by Bernd Bauer Yehudi Menuhin Humphrey Burton © 2006, EuroArts Music International