Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11 - download (MP3 & FLAC)

Felix Mendelssohn managed the rare feat of composing twelve symphonies by the age of 15. However these string sinfonias were never published with their own opus numbers and thus regarded as ‘substandard’. The first ‘real’ symphony dates from 1824 and was published as no.1, a few years later he composed his fifth. This live recording offers superb interpretations of the two works, whose origins are so close to each other and allows fascinating insights into the musical world of the young Mendelssohn.

Mendelssohn was only fifteen when he composed his First Symphony by which time he had already written twelve string symphonies. His Symphony No. 4, widely known as the 'Italian' is one of Mendelssohn's most loved compositions. The Ruy Blas overture was written for a play by Victor Hugo.

The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton began their cycle of Mendelssohn’s symphonies with Symphony No. 2 ‘Hymn of Praise’ which was described as ‘suitably glowing’ by the reviewer in Financial Times, and ‘alert and vigorous’ in BBC Music Magazine.

Thomas Fey and the Heidelberger Sinfoniker present the first volume of what will become the definitive Mendelssohn cycle of the new century! Thomas Fey has been a long-term advocate of the orchestral music of Mendelssohn – a composer he understands. These performances capture the brilliance and fire of the young composer’s imagination at its most luminous. Utilizing the full range of the Heidelberg ensemble’s unique sound, Maestro Fey has assembled several rare and fascinating ALTERNATE versions of Mendelssohn’s String Symphonies that the composer himself later orchestrated. This program has NO competition in the current catalogue of classical music releases!

Following the global success of his earlier recordings of Beethoven and Berlioz, Sir Roger Norrington leads his Stuttgart ensemble on a voyage of discovery into the works of the Gentle Genius, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The First Symphony was composed when Mendelssohn was 19, following a prolific period of composing the 13 early Symphonies for Strings, and lyrically expands on the stylistic brilliance of Beethoven and Mozart. The idea to compose a symphony in honor of the tercentenary celebration of Augsburg Confession (1530), came to Mendelssohn while he was in England during the fall of 1829. The symphony was completed during that winter. It was first entitled Symphony for the Celebration of a Religious Revolution; the title Reformation became associated with the piece later. The symphony received few performances during the composer's lifetime and was evidently laid aside, as it wasn't published until 1868, posthumously.

Conductor Christoph Poppen is the new principal conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, having taken over from Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. The first collaboration of orchestra and conductor are these wonderful recordings of Mendelssohn’s great symphonies.

These are very well known pieces and need no introduction except to say that as always the playing by the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie is first rate and world class.

BIS presents a boxed set of Felix Mendelssohn’s complete symphonies, string symphonies and concertos.

The symphonies were recorded in 2007 and 2008 by Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and were warmly received by the reviewers when they were first released.

The 12 string symphonies give us the background to the symphonies for full orchestra, written by a boy not yet fifteen. The recordings are from the Amsterdam Sinfonietta conducted by Lev Markiz.

A further four discs offer all of the eight concertos that Mendelssohn composed. These include the youthful works with string orchestra accompaniment (concertos for violin, piano, violin and piano, and for two pianos), as well as the mature works for violin, piano and full orchestra, performed here by Isabelle van Keulen and Ronald Brautigam.