101 Classical Music CDs

Mendelssohn began the initial sketches of his Fourth Symphony after a visit to Italy. His visit there was part of a tour he took across Europe in his early twenties, something any newly-minted college kid might appreciate. Of course Mendelssohn didn't exactly stay at youth hostels. Having been born into an extremely wealthy family, and already famous for his musical skills, he spent his tour dazzling the highest echelons of European society. ********************** Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Five Symphonies Deutsche Grammophon, 1973 ********************** Unfortunately, this symphony never really satisfied Mendelssohn. He made repeated and wholesale revisions to the work, and it was never published during his lifetime. And yet this work was loved when it first premiered, and it remains one of Mendelssohn's most popular works to this day. Once again, a brilliant composer judges his own music far too harshly. A quick musical ...

Over the next two posts, we will finish off the remaining two Felix Mendelssohn's symphonies on my 3-CD collection of his Five Symphonies. Today, we'll cover his Third, the "Scottish" Symphony. ********************** Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Five Symphonies Deutsche Grammophon, 1973 ********************** In my view, Mendelssohn's Third Symphony is the best one I've listened to yet, after having listened to his First , his marathon Second , and his Fifth . And my boy Felix himself backs me up on this one: according to the unusually well-written liner notes accompanying this CD (written by Ivan March), Mendelssohn "valued the 'Scottish' Symphony above the others." Mendelssohn was inspired to compose this work after a visit to Scotland in 1829, and the introductory theme of this symphony burst into his mind upon seeing the famous Holyrood Abbey ruins . It's interesting, however, tha...

Today's post will cover Felix Mendelssohn's Second Symphony, from disc 2 of our 3-CD set of his five symphonies. Admittedly, the Second is a bit of a marathon. It starts off innocently enough like any other symphony, with three instrumental movements. But instead of finishing things up with a predictable fourth movement, Mendelssohn takes us into a nine-movement choral work. Collectively, the entire work is as long as two "normal" Mendelssohn symphonies. Mendelssohn dedicated his Second Symphony to the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing, which he believed to be one of the most important events in history. ********************** Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Five Symphonies Deutsche Grammophon, 1973 ********************** Listener Notes for Mendelssohn's Second Symphony: 1) I'll say this for Mendelssohn: in this symphony he finally puts the brass section to work. 2) I don't see what's so ...

We return to classical music's second best -known prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn. Today I'll be writing about his Fifth Symphony. ********************** Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Five Symphonies Deutsche Grammophon, 1973 ********************** It's been a long while since I returned to this three-CD set of Mendelssohn's five symphonies. I covered Symphony #1 way back in March 2008, and somehow eight months passed by before I came back to this collection (a side note: a commenter left a link on that post to a weirdly mesmerizing performance of Louis Farrakhan--yep, that Louis Farrakhan--playing a Mendelssohn violin concerto. You just never know who might be out there in cyberspace reading your blogs). In any event, what is taking me so long to finish off this CD? It's certainly not because the music isn't wonderful. But I will say that on some level, Mendelssohn's symphonies lack the powerful feeling of...

Mendelssohn was a child prodigy comparable in talent to Mozart. In fact, some of the works he composed in his teens were thought of as superior to Mozart's when he was at a similar age. We also have Mendelssohn to thank for reviving the world's interest in the works of Bach. In 1829, Mendelssohn conducted a performance of Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, at a time when Bach's music had become nearly completely forgotten. The performance was so powerful and so well-regarded that it kicked off what we now think of as the "19th century Bach revival." ********************** Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Five Symphonies Deutsche Grammophon, 1973 ********************** The disc I have is a three-CD collection of all five of Mendelssohn's symphonies, and with any luck, I'll have a chance to blog about all of them. I've posted a link to this CD below, along with another, similar Deutsche Grammophon colle...