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The only single CD with the complete Psalm Cantatas available.

Mendelssohn’s Psalm Cantatas are small scale works for vocal soloists, choir and orchestra, based on well known psalms, expressing the general emotional content of the psalm in dramatic and romantic musical language. The writing is firmly rooted in the German choral tradition, no wonder for a composer who revived Bach’s Matthäus Passion in his time.

Single issue drawn from the set of the complete choral works by Mendelssohn performed by the Chamber Choir of Europe conducted by Nicol Matt, a set which received uniform praise in the international press, among others a prestigious “Diapason d’Or”. Booklet contains liner notes and sung texts.

These cantatas, although relatively disregarded by the overly self‐critical composer and consequently only published in the 1970s and 80s, demonstrate Mendelssohn’s ability to strike a pleasing and impressive balance between the two extremes of this debate. The pieces are certainly not ‘utility music’ intended merely to serve a specific purpose within a church service; but neither do they cast off the liturgical framework in the manner of Beethoven’s Ninth or Mendelssohn’s ‘Reformation’ Symphony. Each one succeeds in having its own captivating effect capable of transporting the listener. The Psalm Cantatas are performed here by the Chamber Choir of Europe who, among numerous other feats, have already recorded the complete sacred choral works of both Mozart and Mendelssohn. They are led by Nicol Matt, a specialist in church music who has had several releases on Brilliant Classics and sold over eight million CDs worldwide.

Probably no composer other than Mozart displayed such a prodigious talent in childhood as that displayed by the young Mendelssohn. His early flowering genius made him something of a phenomenon, and this saw his stature in adulthood rise to equal (rightly so) that of the greats - Bach, Beethoven and of course Mozart. This was followed by the inevitable decline in reputation - his comfortable upper middle class upbringing in a Berlin banking family, that included philosopher Moses Mendelssohn hardly fitted the late 19th century image of the struggling and tortured soul of the romantic artist.

The effects of perversions of the Nazi German regime which banned his music as he was a Jew almost sealed his fate apart from the affection held by performers for a handful of his works. But Mendelssohn is so much more than the composer of the Scottish and Italian Symphonies, the Violin Concerto and the oratorio Elijah. The chamber music reveals not only his youthful precociousness as heard in the Octet composed at the age of 16 and a work of pure genius - but also in the sextet which ranks only a little behind its famous sibling for sheer bravura and craftsmanship.The string quartets are seriously underrated works, and show Mendelssohn’s deep appreciation of Beethoven’s quartets. These are masterful works that repay closer acquaintance.

Mendelssohn today is rightfully considered one of the great composers and the works in this 6CD set get right to the heart and soul of a man over-praised during his life and for too long under-appreciated in death.

Wolfgang Sawallisch is without doubt one of the world’s greatest interpreters and champions of Mendelssohn. His cycle of the 5 symphonies was recorded for Philips in 1987, and has been absent from the catalogue for several years.

This Brilliant release marks a welcome return for his sensitive and deeply felt performances.The Amsterdam Sinfonietta’s cycle of the string symphonies is highly rated, and was released initially on BIS.

Mendelssohn’s 5 symphonies include two of the most popular works in the repertoire, the 3rd ‘Scottish’ and the 4th ‘Italian’. ?? The ‘Scottish’ owes its creation to a lengthy stay in theUK the composer made in the late 1820s, which inspired Mendelssohn to compose a vivid programmatic work.

The ‘Italian’ depicts an altogether warmer and sunnier part of the world, and is the result of Mendelssohn’s extended tour of the country in the 1830s.

The Amsterdam Sinfonietta’s cycle of the string symphonies is highly rated, and was released initially on BIS.

‘All the performances are superb, and they are extremely well recorded……the Amsterdam Sinfonietta plays magnificently throughout’ (Classics Today)

‘So devoted a reading [of the Second Symphony] will afford much comfort and joy to all believing Mendelssohnians, and may well make converts among others’ (The Musical Times)

This CD features for the first time on CD the celebrated cello built by Antonio Stradivari, the “Stauferex Cristiani” instrument, of enormous power and sonority.

The program presents the complete works for cello and piano of Felix Mendelssohn, ranging from youthful enthusiasm of the Variations Op. 17, to the maturity and profundity of the second Cello Sonata Op. 58.

The booklet contains liner notes on the music, as well as all information on the instrument, its history and qualities, plus many photos.

New recording by the Italian maestro Luca Fiorentini and pianist Stefania Redaelli.

Born into a family where music-making lay at the heart of domestic life, Felix Mendelssohn was from an early age exposed to a broad range of composers and styles. First introduced to the cello by his brother, Paul, the young prodigy went on to write a number of charming works for the instrument together with piano accompaniment; this engaging CD details all such compositions, with the music brought to life through Luca Fiorentini’s intuitive performances on the stunning ‘Stauffer – ex Cristiani’ Stradivari cello.

The compilation begins with the delightful Variations concertantes in G Op.17, written when Mendelssohn was just 20 years old. It is followed by the first of two sonatas that make up the backbone to this release – No.2 Op.58, a work revealing the composer’s creative maturity and containing many original passages such as the ebullient 6/8 metre of the opening movement. While the Sonata No.1 may not have achieved the same popularity as its imposing counterpart, the composition remains one of the era’s most important within the genre. It is a fitting contrast to the collection’s final Albumblatt: a short, descriptive piece in which the cello and piano lines interweave, creating a charming, dream-like atmosphere. Mendelssohn’s affecting Lied ohne Worte Op.109, however, is without doubt the focal point of the collection.Taking centre place, it is of particular significance given that it was first performed on exactly the same Stradivari as the one used in this release, an instrument that, under the ownership of the famous cellist Lise Cristiani, had inspired Mendelssohn. The music is wonderfully interpreted by Fiorentini and Redaelli, a partnership whose compelling musicianship is evident throughout the album.

As a champion of the great choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach (he re-introduced the long forgotten Matthäus Passion) Felix Mendelssohn continued the German Oratorio tradition with two magnificent works, Elias and Paulus.

These two works, of vivid and highly dramatic substance, still enjoy great popularity, and are regularly performed by both professional and amateur choral societies.

Performances in the best German tradition, by the SWR Sinfonieorchester and the Frankfurter Opernhausund Museumorchester.

Felix Mendelssohn is associated with one brilliant score of incidental music for the theatre – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – but in fact he composed scores for no less than 15 stage works.The most significant of them, including the three works in this set, date from the period when he was employed by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, who was strongly attracted to the spirit of Romanticism and the culture of Greek antiquity.

Mendelssohn was drawn to Sophocles’s tragedy Antigone by its strong dramatic sense and its universal themes, particularly Antigone’s pathos and heroism. In addition to setting several of the choruses, he composed interludes and background music for speeches and dialogues. His highly effective score is intensely noble and romantic yet also sensitive to the verse.

His music for Sophocles’s Oedipus at Colonus moves further away from Athenian dramatic form, with accompanied recitative, solos and duets for the principal characters, and is more elaborate. It has a tragic intensity not often heard in his music. His score of incidental music for Racine’s religious drama Athalie is typical of the composer’s style – characterised by flowing, sustained melodic invention, colourful orchestration and imaginative scoring for the voices. It displays the composer at the height of his powers both as a musical dramatist and an orchestral tone-poet.

Mendelssohn was perhaps the most precociously gifted of all composers. As a child prodigy he stands out from other famous examples such as Mozart, Saint-Saëns, and Britten as he reached musical maturity so quickly – probably only Korngold can rival his precocious abilities. The two works on this CD are prime examples. Both were composed in the years 1824/5 when Mendelssohn was in his sixteenth year. The sheer effortlessness of the Octet, its textures, and the seamless way he writes for the 8 players has never been surpassed. Mendelssohn’s inspiration to compose a work for 8 string players was probably inspired by the Double Quartets of Spohr. However, the older composer deliberately wrote for two groups of 4 players, and made little attempt to meld the 8 into an orchestral unit.

The sextet is almost a piano concerto, and the dazzling writing he gives the piano illustrates not only Mendelssohn’s prowess as a virtuoso, but also how well he had studied his older contemporary’s music, especially Hummel and Moscheles.

2009 is the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth, and he will be the focus of many radio and TV programmes, plus concerts worldwide.

New recording: one of a series of releases from Brilliant Classics featuring outstanding young artists who have won the principal prizes at the Young Pianist Foundation’s National Piano Competition.

Pieter-Jelle de Boer was born in the Netherlands in 1978, and started playing the piano at the age of five. A student of Jan Wijn, Murray Perahia and Emanuel Ax, he took the second prize at the 2001 YPF National Piano Competition. At the Paris Conservatoire, he studied conducting with Peter Eötvös and John Carewe. He has a busy recital and concert schedule.

For this Mendelssohn recital, de Boer has chosen some of the composer’s most brilliant and virtuosic works. The Variations sérieuses Op.54 are generally considered to be among his most successful works for solo piano. As a virtuoso pianist Mendelssohn composed manyhighly demanding works for his instrument. The early Sonata Op.6 shows the unmistakable influence of Beethoven and Mozart, but the Rondo capriccioso Op.14 is a wonderful example of the technical wizardry Mendelssohn was capable of. He was very friendly with the composer and pianist Ignaz Moscheles (a friend in turn of both Beethoven and Hummel), and the older man’s influence upon the young Mendelssohn’s keyboard-writing should not be underestimated.

This disc offers a good opportunity to sample some of Mendelssohn’s piano-writing outside of the famous Songs without Words sets that tend to overshadow his works for piano.