Yehudi Menuhin was one of the 20th century's most celebrated violinists and conductors. This collection of early recordings from Parnassus highlights Menuhin's artistry in his younger years. Featuring works from Schumann, Brahms and Enescu this is a collection any violin enthusiast should have in their collection.

His playing presents a delicious paradox... individualistic almost to the point of recreation, while so utterly natural, so profoundly honest, you could hardly imagine the music otherwise. [Beethoven Variations[: tautness of playing, absolute rhythmic security, burbling pianissimos, knife-edged sforzandos, artful rubato and unremitting sense of purpose... delicate observations occur by the bar... [trans-criptions]: (Mendelssohn; Rimsky-Korsakov; Tchaikovsky): scintillating, full of musical interest. His reworking of Liebesleid is extremely beautiful. [his own music]... each sounds as if spontaneously improvised... The C sharp minor Prelude retains it's magic through perfect timing. That is perhaps where Rachmaninov remains most inimitable: it wasn't how he struck the keys that mattered, but when. (Gramophone)

Parnassus Records is pleased to release a follow-up to their acclaimed "Black Swans" anthology, which returned to international availability extraordinarily rare early recordings of African-American opera singers. The new release, "Black Swans at Mid-Century", contains over two hours of music and focuses on Black artists of the mid-twentieth century.