Description:
World-famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin revisits familiar ground in Unfinished Journey: Twenty Years Later, a revised and updated edition of his 1976 autobiography. A prodigy who made his concert debut at age 7, Menuhin later became a conductor and revered educator, founding several schools as well as an international foundation. Along the way he cultivated friendships with some of the most illustrious figures of his age; Bela Bartók, Benjamin Britten, and Pablo Casals all play prominent roles in Menuhin's life story, with luminaries such as Willa Cather, Charles de Gaulle, and Pope John Paul II making walk-on appearances. Played out against the turbulent landscape of the 20th century, Menuhin's story often reads like the best kind of fiction. After one performance, Einstein rushes across the stage to embrace the young violinist, crying, "Now I know there is a God in heaven!" Later, Menuhin and Britten play a poignant concert for recently liberated victims of the concentration camp Belsen, performing in the theater once reserved for their SS oppressors. New to this edition are four chapters in which Menuhin describes the last 20 years of his life. He also airs the minutiae of his startlingly comprehensive worldview, skipping from the problems of foreign labor to the pleasures of sitz baths and stretching, all within the space of a few paragraphs. Philanthropist, teacher, and self-described "health crank," Menuhin has an opinion on every subject imaginable; taken together, these thoughts add up to a well-rounded portrait of a remarkable life.
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