Musical Romanticism, explored by Pieter de Oude.
Mendelssohn’s third symphony and first piano concerto
An hour full of music from the multitalented Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. He wrote beautiful music, but he was also an excellent illustrator, writer, and organiser. As a child prodigy, he amazed Europe with his piano play, and as a child of an aristocratic Jewish family, he was sent to Italy and France and to England as well. In the United Kingdom, he managed to gather a group of fans. He conducted his vocal music on the many choirs’ festivals that already took place in the 19th century. He had to go to Scotland, not only for the impressive landscape but to visit the famous poet Walter Scott, as well. He expressed his impressions of this journey in his third symphony, his Scottish one, which he would dedicate years later to his good friends Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. We will listen to a performance of the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Herbert Blomstedt. Mendelssohn wrote his first piano concerto for Delphine von Schauroth after he had heard her play in Berlin. This piece became one of his most famous and most played pieces. Great pianists like Liszt and Thalberg often played it, and the story goes that all pianos in the Paris Conservatory started playing it automatically when a student took place on the piano stool. We will listen to an edition of Ronald Brautigam on a modern grand piano and accompanied by New Sinfonietta Amsterdam conducted by Lev Markiz.
Playlist:
- Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Symphony No.3, Op.56 in A minor, the Scottish
San Francisco Symphony conducted by Herbert Blomstedt – DECCA 433 811-2 - Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Piano Concerto No. 1, Op.25 in G minor
Ronald Brautigam, piano/New Amsterdam Sinfonietta conducted by Lev Markiz – BIS 718
