Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) - Bicentennial Celebration!

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

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Solitary Wanderer

Quote from: Gabriel on June 04, 2009, 03:23:35 AM
But the fact that he managed to match with the incidental music such a masterpiece as the overture is for me not less than a proof of Mendelssohn's splendid talent. (Or, if you prefer, "genius" ;)).

I agree!  :)
'I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.' ~ Emily Bronte

Sorin Eushayson

I see a lot of these recommendations and think to myself, "No no no!"

Try this for your first Mendelssohn album:


Coopmv

Quote from: Sorin Eushayson on June 05, 2009, 07:51:00 PM
I see a lot of these recommendations and think to myself, "No no no!"

Try this for your first Mendelssohn album:



I have this set by Roy Goodman, which I think is a decent set.  I think Goodman is better known for his baroque recordings ...




FideLeo

Quote from: Coopmv on June 05, 2009, 08:07:33 PM
I have this set by Roy Goodman, which I think is a decent set.  I think Goodman is better known for his baroque recordings ...





For the string symphonies try to compare to the Concerto Koeln recommended above -- you might be delighted that you do.

ps. Goodman recorded a ton of Haydn symphonies but the series was cut before it was completed.
HIP for all and all for HIP! Harpsichord for Bach, fortepiano for Beethoven and pianoforte for Brahms!

Sorin Eushayson

Quote from: traverso on June 05, 2009, 09:19:28 PM
For the string symphonies try to compare to the Concerto Koeln recommended above -- you might be delighted that you do.

I have both of them, they're both quite good.  The Hanover Band's cycle has the full orchestration of No. 8, which is quite a treat.

Quote from: traverso on June 05, 2009, 09:19:28 PMps. Goodman recorded a ton of Haydn symphonies but the series was cut before it was completed.

I detect a theme with regards to Haydn symphony cycles...  :'(

FideLeo

Quote from: Sorin Eushayson on June 05, 2009, 09:43:23 PM
I detect a theme with regards to Haydn symphony cycles...  :'(

Mendelssohn wouldn't mind a reference to Haydn on the side, would he?  ;) 

I still urge coopmv to try the Concerto Koeln performance, which to my ears is actually superior to the Goodman, but of course tastes differ. 
HIP for all and all for HIP! Harpsichord for Bach, fortepiano for Beethoven and pianoforte for Brahms!

Slezak

 For goodies on the obscure side, I have his Concerto in D minor, written at age 13, and the extant music from his opera "Loreley", and the Turkish Tavern Song(for male chorus).  SS

Dana

      The violin concerto really is a great place to start, but don't just stop at one recording - this is one of those classic romantic concertos where each of a dozen different recordings will show you a different, yet equally essential, facet of the work. I also enjoy the string quintets. They're yin and yang to each other, in a Brahmsian sort of way...

SonicMan46

Felix Mendelssohn (Bartholdy) (1809-1847) - I just finished 'perusing' a book entitled Mendelssohn: A Life in Music by R. Larry Todd (a Professor of Music at Duke University and considered the world's expert on this composer); now, I say 'perusing' because the book is over 700+ pages in length, is quite detailed, and has much analyzes of Mendelssohn's (and others') music (which escapes my limits of understanding).

Although 2009 is almost over, this the the 200th Anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth, so certainly a time of celebration for this unfortunately 'short-lived' composer, musician, conductor, and artist; yes indeed he was multi-talented and really did so much in the few years he had on earth.  There are plenty of excellent biographies available, including an extensive Wiki ARTICLE and even his own Website HERE.

Some of the many interesting facts that I learned (or became reacquainted) from the new biography mentioned included: 1) Much more 'in depth' explanation of his conversion to Protestantism and acquisition of the additional surname Bartholdy (of course, his grandfather was the famous 18th century Jewish scholar, Moses Mendelssohn); 2) Extreme precocity of his musical talents in both performing on various instruments and in composing (e.g. he wrote the wonderful Octet & Overture to a Midsummer's Night Dream as a teenager); 3) His utterly close devotion and attachment to his older sister, Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847): 4) His strong desire to suppress the publication of Fanny's music, an unfortunate practice toward women composers of the times; 5) His phenomenal ability to improvise on the piano - just many stories (including private audiences w/ Victoria & Albert w/ quotes from her letters); and 6) Many more details of the early deaths of Fanny & Felix w/i 6 months from each other, and both from stroke(s) (I suspect that they likely had congenital vascular brain malformations or possibly aneuryms - just postulation on my part).

But this should be a celebration of the music of Felix Mendelssohn - and I could not find a thread dedicated solely to this composer (yes plenty of posts and some threads related to specific works), so let's hope that all who enjoy this talented individual will contribute.  Although I already own a LOT of his music, a renewed interest started with discovering the musical website Musica Omnia started by Peter Watchorn; my initial attraction was to purchase his Bach WTC recordings on the pedal harpsichord (WTC II to be released soon!); there I discovered a series of discs being released in honor of Mendenssohn on this bicentennial birth year; so far, I've purchased two and have a third 3-CDs set is on order, again about to be released; these are performed by the Atlantis Trio (and Ensemble) w/ Jaap Shroder on violin & Penelope Crawford on fortepiano - just excellent.  P.S. the liner notes for these recordings are written by Todd & are superb.

So, please add additional comments, historical events related to this composer, favorite works, and recording recommendations -  :D


   

 

SonicMan46

#29
Mendelssohn' wrote just hundreds of compositions from his childhood to the final years of his too abbreviated life; checkout this LISTING, which includes 121 Opus numbers, plus a handful of non-Opus works (e.g. his wonderful String Symphonies, written as a pre-teen!).

Below, I've gleamed some of the the better recognized compositions from this list, many of which warrant inclusion in any comprehensive Mendelssohn collection; missing are many of his solo piano pieces, vocal works (lieder in particular), and other choral compositions; so, comments & recommendations welcomed!   :D

Cello Sonata, No. 1 (Op. 45; 1838)
Cello Sonata, No. 2 (Op. 58; 1843)
Elijah (Op. 70; 1846)
Hebrides Overture (Op. 26; 1830-32)
Overture MSN Dream (Op. 21; 1826)
Piano Concerto, No. 1 (Op. 25; 1831)
Piano Concerto, No. 2 (Op. 40; 1837)
Piano Quartets, 1-3 (Op. 1-3; 1822-25)
Piano Sextet (Op. 110; 1824)
Piano Sonata, No. 1 (Op. 6); 1826)
Piano Sonata, No. 2 (Op. 105; 1821)
Piano Sonata, No. 3 (Op. 106; 1827)
Piano Trio, No. 1 (Op. 49; 1839)
Piano Trio, No. 2 (Op. 66; 1845)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.1 (Op. 19b; 1829-30)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.2 (Op. 30; 1833-34)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.3 (Op. 38; 1836-37)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.4 (Op. 53; 1839-41)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.5 (Op. 62; 1842-44)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.6 (Op. 67; 1843-45)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.7 (Op. 85; 1834-45)
Songs w/o Words, Bk.8 (Op. 102; 1842-45)
St. Paul (Oratorio) (Op. 36; 1836)
String Octet (Op. 20; 1825)
String Quintet, No. 1 (Op. 18; 1826, 1832)
String Quintet, No. 2 (Op. 87; 1845)
String Quartets, 1 & 2 (Op. 12/13; 1827/29)
String Quartets, 3 - 5 (Op. 44; 1837-38)
String Quartet, 6 (Op. 80; 1847)
String Quartet, Four Pieces (Op. 81; date NA)
String Symphonies (None; 1821-23)
Symphony No. 1 (Op. 11; 1824)
Symphony No. 2 (Op. 52; 1840)
Symphony No. 3 (Op. 56; 1841-42)
Symphony No. 4 (Op. 90; 1833)
Symphony No. 5 (Op. 107; 1830)
Violin Concerto (Op. 64; 1844)
Violin Sonata (Op. 4; 1825)
Wedding March (Op. 61 part; 1842)

listener

#30
and another bi-centenary coming up is Robert Schumann (b. June 8, 1810).  The Vancouver Symphony combined these in a three-day festival a couple weekends ago.
The "biggest hits" played on historical instruments are on Nimbus NI 5158 (Violin Conc. Piano Conc.1 and Symphony 4
The piano is an c.1840 Henschker fortepiano.
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

Grazioso

Two anniversary box sets worth investigating, the former from BMG/RCA/Sony, the latter from Brilliant:


There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. --Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

snyprrr

There is seriously no Mendelssohn thread until now??? :o Hard to believe.

SonicMan46

Quote from: snyprrr on November 23, 2009, 09:30:24 PM
There is seriously no Mendelssohn thread until now??? :o Hard to believe.

Well, I was reading the book mentioned in my OP; then looked on Sara's Composer Thread under Germany and found no entry for Felix; so, I did some more general searching and except for specific works or genres could not find a dedicated thread - now, I may have missed one?   :)

Brahmsian

I'm surprised there wasn't a general Mendelssohn thread?  Considering Saul holds the record number of new topics started......one would think?  :D

karlhenning

Quote from: Brahmsian on November 24, 2009, 09:14:25 AM
I'm surprised there wasn't a general Mendelssohn thread?  Considering Saul holds the record number of new topics started......one would think?  :D

Oh, certainly.

And that would account for lack of interest otherwise ; )

SonicMan46

Quote from: Grazioso on November 23, 2009, 01:51:25 AM
Two anniversary box sets worth investigating, the former from BMG/RCA/Sony, the latter from Brilliant:

 

Grazioso - thanks for the mention of the two BIG BOXES of Mendelssohn's Works - certainly a one-stop shopping approach!  :D

Actually, last night I looked at my FM collection and compared my items to the list generated in my second post; to my amazment I have nearly everything in that summary; of course, much is missing (solo piano, lieder, songs w/ piano, other vocal pieces, etc.), but my main addition in the future will likely be in 'solo piano' - I do have a wonderful collection of Songs w/o Words w/ Livia Rev (bargain Hyperion Dyad, so all books included!). and a single Naxos disc of other solo piano - recommendations in that genre would be appreciated.

Also, for those who may just be getting started in collecting Mendelssohn, works from his childhood and teenage years can impress, e.g. Octet & Overture to Midsummer's Nights Dream; also, his String Symphonies (written as a pre-teen) are amazingly good and not for just a boy; the 3-disc set w/ Ross Pople & the London Festival Orchestral is excellent!  :)

 

SonicMan46

Sorry all!  :-[

I guess there was a Mendelssohn thread that I overlooked in my search; well now combined and with plenty of previous threads -  :D

Hope that the 'new' additions will stimulate some interest in Felix toward the end of this bicenntenial birth year - Dave  :)

Opus106

Anyone celebrating his birth, today? Here it's the fourth already, and I'm about to go to sleep. Just thought I'd let those of you still in the third know about the day.
Regards,
Navneeth

karlhenning

Seeing this thread suddenly brings it home, what a non-event last year was in terms of a Mendelssohn bicentenary.

A sobering lesson in the perils of Enthusiasm and Hype overdoing a normally worthy subject.