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Presto News - 2nd November 2009Felix Mendelssohn |
 As we enter the penultimate month of 2009 I realise that I have one major composer anniversary yet to cover this year – that of the bicentenary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47). Mendelssohn was a child prodigy. He gave piano and organ concerts from a very early age and was also a prolific composer. Between the ages of 12 and 14 he wrote his twelve string symphonies, and was only 15 when he wrote his first full symphony (no. 1 in C minor, Op. 11). However, the first evidence of the real extent of his genius came the following year when he wrote his famous Octet and followed this up the year later with his Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture. Arguably these two works show far more individuality and greatness than anything Mozart produced when he was a similar age.  Felix Mendelssohn It seems that after these early successes Mendelssohn’s compositional style never really developed as one would have expected and he become known as quite a conservative composer, particular when compared to his contemporaries like Berlioz and Liszt. While this no doubt helped make him both popular and successful during his lifetime it was also probably one of the reasons why he fell out of favour later in the nineteenth century where he remained for a long time. Although Mendelssohn wrote in a variety of forms and in a number of different genres I would say the two things that I most admire and love about his music are his chamber music and his remarkable scherzos. His String Quartets, String Quintets, Piano Trios and String Octet are some of his finest works and display a composer in complete mastery of the genre. They also contain more emotional intensity than some of his other works (a criticism often directed at Mendelssohn), particularly the last String Quartet (No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80) which was written after the death of his sister Fanny. Mendelssohn’s scherzos are something unique in the history of music. They demonstrate a fairy-like touch – full of imagination and fleetness of foot. Best known are those from the Octet and the Midsummer Night's Dream incidental music (written in 1842, some sixteen years after the Overture), but a similar compositional style is found in some of his last movements as well – notably the ‘Italian’ Symphony and the Violin Concerto. There is no shortage of good Mendelssohn recordings to choose from and you can explore them all from our Mendelssohn page here, but to get you started here are the building a library recommendations for the three main works mentioned above. BBC Radio 3 Building a Library top Recommendations
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 Mendelssohn - Octet(coupled with the Piano Sextet)The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center |
 Mendelssohn - A Midsummer Night's DreamKathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Judi Dench, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa |
 Mendelssohn - String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80Elias String Quartet |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases2nd November 2009 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Bryn Terfel - Bad BoysBryn Terfel (tenor), Anne Sofie von Otter & Balcarras Crafoord, Swedish Radio Choir & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paul DanielBryn Terfel, a gentle man in real life, recruits a gang of “bad boy” characters from opera and musicals to serenade us with tunes from the sinister side of the bass clef. Thoroughly convincing as villains you would not want to meet alone in the dark, Bryn Terfel wields a full, wide ranging bass-baritone ever in service to dramatic instincts rare in any era Bad Boys delivers an original concept sure to seduce the media, wow the classical crowd and exert powerful mass appeal. No singer morphs from Don Giovanni to Mack the Knife to Sweeney Todd with Terfel’s devilish ease – Bad Boys is a delightful box of mixed (dark) musical bonbons. |
 Schubert - String Quintet and String Quartets 14 and 15Belcea QuartetThe Belcea Quartet has added three late masterpieces by Franz Schubert to their impressive discography on EMI Classics: the Quartet in D Minor ‘Death and the Maiden’, the Quartet in G Major D887 and the sublime String Quintet in C Major with Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet as the second cellist. |
 Rossini - Colbran, the MuseJoyce DiDonato, Orchestra dell' Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Roma, Edoardo MullerAfter the success of her first Virgin Classics recital – Furore, arias by Handel – Joyce DiDonato turns to the composer whose heroines first brought her to international stardom: Gioacchino Rossini. |
 Rachmaninov & Medtner Piano ConcertosYevgeny Sudbin (piano), North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, Grant LlewellynWith his second concerto disc, Yevgeny Sudbin celebrates the close relationship between two great Russian composers: Sergei Rachmaninov and Nikolai Medtner. Medtner would encourage his more famous colleague during the latter’s bouts of self-doubt, while Rachmaninov early on recognized Medtner’s unique gifts, pronouncing him the ‘greatest composer of our time’. The most sincere testament to their friendship is embodied in these two concertos, which the composers dedicated to one another. |
 York Bowen - The Piano SonatasDanny Driver (piano)The recent revival of York Bowen’s music, very much spearheaded by Hyperion, has spawned a plethora of new recordings of his compositions, and won him many new admirers. Among the new releases, this disc of Bowen’s piano sonatas is a uniquely important collection. It contains three premiere recordings, including two recordings of previously unpublished sonatas performed (with special permisson) from the manuscripts. It is thus the first ever recording of the complete sonatas – an unmissable opportunity for piano enthusiasts. |
 Schubert Live - Volume 2Imogen Cooper (piano)Imogen continues her exploration of Schubert’s late piano music with the second volume in her ongoing series for Avie, recorded live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Her selection for Volume Two reflects the public appetite, in the late 1820s, for shorter piano pieces, which resulted in Six Moments Musicaux, D780 and Four Impromptus, D 935. Even the publisher of Schubert’s G major Sonata, D894, described the work as a ‘Fantasy, Andante, Menuetto and Allegretto’, knowing that marketing the work as individual character pieces would generate healthier sales. |
 Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 104 (complete)Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Dennis Russell DaviesThis 35 disc box set is the only brand new and fully digital recording of the complete symphonies of Haydn. Performed by the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester (Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra) and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, the recordings were done live in connection with concerts of the whole cycle. The series received fantastic reviews by the press, and The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra was awarded the European Chamber Music Prize in 2008. |
 Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (DVD)Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala, Mariusz Kwiecien & Ildar Abdrazakov, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet, Marco Armiliato (conductor) & Mary Zimmerman (director)Having dazzled opera audiences from St. Petersburg to L.A. as Lucia, Anna Netrebko triumphantly returns to the Metropolitan Opera in this touchstone coloratura role. Mariusz Kwiecien’s Enrico delivers theatrical truth with a matchless baritone, the luster of polished mahagony. This Met performance of director Mary Zimmerman’s “imaginative staging . . . And nuanced portrayals” (Times) is a tour de force of music and theatricality. |
 Puccini: La Bohème (Blu-ray)Anna Netrebko (soprano) & Rolando Villazón (tenor), The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bertrand de BillyFollowing its commercial run in cinemas just before Christmas last year, this film version of Puccini's classic opera La Bohème features two of opera’s biggest superstars, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, in the roles they have performed to live audiences all over the world. Already released on DVD last year, this version on Blu-ray has been widely demanded and stands a good chance of becoming one of the best selling classical Blu-ray titles of the year. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 31st October 2009 |
Building a Library - Schubert: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D804 'Rosamunde' |
 First Choice(coupled with String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D810 'Death and the Maiden')Takács Quartet |
Disc of the Week |
 Unknown BrittenNorthern Sinfonia, Thomas Zehetmair, with Sandrine Piau, Rolf Hind, Michael Collins … |
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