Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) - Bicentennial Celebration!

Started by Expresso, October 09, 2007, 06:22:44 AM

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Cato

Greetings Gerd!

Welcome back!

I will need some time to peruse your score: many thanks for sharing it!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

SurprisedByBeauty

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 19, 2018, 03:37:57 AM
What is the consensus on the Brilliant complete chamber music box?

I'm not aware of any consensus... but looking at the ingredients, it seems to be a very mixed bag, indeed. But Joan Berkhemer and the Trio he's in with Klara Wuertz are second rank but top-notch musicians whom I'd put some faith into giving very musical accounts. But the quartets and quintets, I wouldn't bank on top-notch stuff. But you would have those already in this MUST-MUST-MUST HAVE box, right?!?!  [The Re-Issue]

Florestan

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 19, 2018, 03:37:57 AM
What is the consensus on the Brilliant complete chamber music box?

The consensus is just what any other composer's Brilliant complete chamber music box is: a mixed bag but at this price a no-brainer.  :D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

kyjo

Much as I enjoy a lot of Mendelssohn's music, I will admit that it rarely plumbs great emotional depths (which isn't a bad thing). However, one exception is the powerful slow movement of his String Quintet no. 2, which has a grave, almost Bachian stateliness with its "walking bass" cello line. It rises to a climax of great emotional intensity not often found in Mendelssohn's output.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

SurprisedByBeauty

Quote from: kyjo on August 20, 2018, 12:25:53 PM
Much as I enjoy a lot of Mendelssohn's music, I will admit that it rarely plumbs great emotional depths (which isn't a bad thing). However, one exception is the powerful slow movement of his String Quintet no. 2, which has a grave, almost Bachian stateliness with its "walking bass" cello line. It rises to a climax of great emotional intensity not often found in Mendelssohn's output.

Also the string quartets, esp. the F Minor, which is a heartrending masterpiece the equal of anything ever composed for string quartet.

kyjo

Quote from: SurprisedByBeauty on August 21, 2018, 01:46:14 AM
Also the string quartets, esp. the F Minor, which is a heartrending masterpiece the equal of anything ever composed for string quartet.

Yes, the F minor quartet is a great work as well. There's also some poignant moments in his first two quartets.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

SurprisedByBeauty

I think that St. Paul is AT LEAST as good an oratorio as Elijah - and it has the benefit of not being about an ISIS-style religious fanatic mass murderer.

Latest on ClassicsToday:

Rilling's Budget #Mendelssohn; A Reference St. Paul Oratorio At The Center

(insider)



Mookalafalas

Any Mendelssohn fans familiar with this?
[asin]B07NRTDS5M[/asin]

  Just played it, and liked it a lot, but all I could think was "Is this really Mendelssohn?"
    It is so turbocharged and aggressively dynamic, from start to finish, that it doesn't fit my impression of the composer at all.  Most of my M focuses on long, beautiful lines and rich sonic color. However, it is generally pretty staid and placid.  This disk reminds me of LP days from my youth, playing a 33RPM at 45 to see how it would sound...
It's all good...

Wanderer

I remember sampling it and not being impressed at all by what I heard.

aukhawk

Quote from: Mandryka on July 10, 2019, 12:26:32 PM
Brenda Lucas Ogdon was John Ogdon's wife and partner in an LP he made of duets by Debussy and Bizet,  Last year she released this recording of WTC 2, on a modern piano, ...

Seeing Brenda Lucas mentioned in a thread elsewhere reminded me of this Mendelssohn recording which was a great favourite of mine back in the day - a wonderful antidote to the heavier fare that I mostly listened to at that time.



Both concertos are now available as disc 2 of this compilation.



vers la flamme

Any love for Mendelssohn lately? His music has been in semi-regular rotation for me ever since his birthday (early February, the 3rd I believe). What I've been listening to and enjoying is the piano concertos, the piano trios, some of the string symphonies, and the Reformation symphony. There's a lot I still need to hear, especially in terms of chamber music.

As for the string symphonies, I have the box with all the Concerto Köln recordings of them alongside Kurt Masur conducting the full orchestral symphonies. But somehow I prefer the Nicholas Ward, Northern Chamber Orchestra recordings on Naxos. Could just be modern vs period instruments; I don't really know. Some of these string symphonies are really nice.

Still looking for the violin concerto recording that's just right for me. I'm considering getting the Perlman/Haitink or the Mutter/Karajan.

Florestan

Quote from: vers la flamme on March 25, 2020, 02:11:08 PM
Any love for Mendelssohn lately? His music has been in semi-regular rotation for me ever since his birthday (early February, the 3rd I believe). What I've been listening to and enjoying is the piano concertos, the piano trios, some of the string symphonies, and the Reformation symphony. There's a lot I still need to hear, especially in terms of chamber music.

I strongly recommend you (1) Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, a stunningly beautiful cantata featuring a scene as dark and chilling as the Wolf's Glen from Freischuetz and (2) probably his best kept secret: the Lieder and Duets, which in terms of melodic inventivity give Schubert a hard run for the money. Hyperion has issued a splendid 4 or 5 disc series.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

SurprisedByBeauty

Quote from: Florestan on March 26, 2020, 02:24:45 AM
I strongly recommend you (1) Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, a stunningly beautiful cantata featuring a scene as dark and chilling as the Wolf's Glen from Freischuetz and (2) probably his best kept secret: the Lieder and Duets, which in terms of melodic inventivity give Schubert a hard run for the money. Hyperion has issued a splendid 4 or 5 disc series.

What timing. My #morninglistening:


#morninglistening to #Mendelssohn's #DieErsteWalpurgisnacht w/ #FriederBernius, #KammerchorStuttgart &
@DKAMbremen on @CarusVerlag

: http://a-fwd.to/11M3lhn


(Haven't, alas, found it on Amazon yet. But the Harnoncourt is good, too.)

Florestan

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

SonicMan46

Mendelssohn's Piano & Violin Concerti - quoted below a list of his many concerti, primarily divided into 'early' and 'later' compositions - trying to peruse my own collection shown below - do I need to cull, add, replace, or hold steady - :)

The 4th disc in the Concerto Koln box has performances of the Piano and Strings Concerto, A minor, listed as No. 0 below (1822) performed by Andreas Staier on fortepiano & Concerto for Violin, Piano & Strings, D minor, No. 1 (1822) w/ Rainer Kussmaul on a 1724 Strad.  The Brautigam recoding has Piano Concertos, No. 0,1,2, latter Opus 25 & 40, performed on two different grand pianos.  Serkin & Stern do the 'mature' works, i.e. Opus 25 & 40 and Opus 64; finally, Chung performs Op. 64 (I've put these in italics in the list below).

Well, I don't seem to own the Capriccio, Rondo, Serenade, or the 'double' concerti - just curious about others' 'Concerti Collections' - what are your favorites and are the works that I don't have in my collection worth exploring?  Thanks - Dave

     

QuoteConcerti [Source]
  Piano Concerto (No. 0) in A minor (1822)
  Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 (1831)
  Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40 (1837)

  Piano Concerto No. 3 (fragment) in E minor, Op. Posth. (1844)
  Violin Concerto (No. 1) in D minor, for violin and strings (1822)
  Violin Concerto (No. 2) in E minor, Op. 64 (1844)

  Capriccio brillant for Piano and Orchestra in B major/minor, Op. 22 (1826, published 1832)
  Rondo brillant for Piano and Orchestra in E flat major, Op. 29 (1834)
  Serenade and Allegro giocoso (also "giojoso") for Piano and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 43 (1838)
  Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra in D minor (1823)
  Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra (No. 1) in A flat major (1822/1824)
  Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra (No. 2) in E major (1823)
  Cello Concerto (lost)

SonicMan46

Mendelssohn's Solo Piano Works - seems that Felix wrote enough for the solo piano to fill at least 4 or 5 CDs - currently, I own the first volume w/ Benjamin Frith on Naxos - he has recorded 5 discs of solo works (plus at least 2 others of concertos and violin/piano pieces); also have the 2-disc set of 'Songs w/o Words' performed by Livia Rev.

Now, there seem to be just a few more 'multiple disc' options for this music, i.e. Howard Shelley on Hyperion w/ 4 CDs and Marie-Catherine Girod (8 discs!) at an outrageous price on Amazon (of course, may be cheaper elsewhere?).  SO, how much of Mendelssohn's 'solo piano' works are worth owning - my Frith Vol. 1 disc is well performed but is Shelley a better choice?  Dave :)

     

Cato

An article about certain of Mendelssohn's manuscripts being for sale mention his manuscripts as pictorial works of art:


Quote

Felix Mendelssohn wasn't only a great composer and a virtuoso organist; he was also a trained draftsman, a skill he put to use in his elaborate handwritten scores. "A Mendelssohn manuscript is a work of art in itself," says his biographer R. Larry Todd, professor of music at Duke University. "The calligraphy is stunning."

The composer's curvaceous clef markings and arabesque lettering are on display in a newly discovered manuscript from 1842, a version of his song "Im Frühling" ("In Spring") that will be sold next month by Sotheby's London. It carries a presale estimate of $25,000 to $30,000 and is available for public viewing on the Sotheby's website in advance of the online auction, which opens July 7.



Manuscripts by other composers are mentioned in the article, e.g. by Wagner, Mahler, et al.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/musical-masterpieces-written-by-hand-11593194244
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)