Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony No.4 ‘Italian’
Incidental music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Scherzo from the Octet for Strings in E-flat major, Op. 20
War March of the Priests from Athalie, Op, 74
Hebrides Overture, Op. 26 ‘Fingal’s Cave’
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11
Zino Francescatti (violin)
Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy (Symphony 4, Dream, Scherzo, March)
Cleveland Orchestra/George Szell, Louis Lane (Overture, Concerto, Symphony 1)
rec. 1959-1966, Philadelphia; Severance Hall, Cleveland. ADD
Presto CD
Sony Classical SB2K63251 [2 CDs: 135]

This compilation of vintage recordings from the late 50s and 60s encompasses some of Mendelssohn’s best-loved works played by the two pre-eminent conductor-orchestra partnerships of that era. It consists of both Mendelssohnian bon-bons and more substantial works and its contents are similar to the twofers on DG “Panorama” featuring Karajan and Kubelik, and Klaus Peter Flor and the Bamberger Symphoniker RCA. All three offer an embarrass de richesses; do I really mind whether I hear Zino Francescatti as per here or the young Anne-Sophie Mutter in the violin concerto for DG? Or Karajan and the BPO or Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the ‘Italian’? Or the pairing of Lucia Popp and Marjana Lipovšek (RCA) or Edith Mathis and Ursula Boese (DG) in the Midsummer Night’s Dream excerpts? – but unfortunately, unlike the other two collections, this Sony selection does not include any vocal numbers.

We begin with a lively, spritely ‘Italian’ symphony enjoying full-fat orchestral sound; my favourite recording however, remains, surprisingly, John Eliot Gardiner’s 1997 account with the VPO, which achieves a filigree lightness unsurpassed elsewhere, whereas Flor and Karajan sound a little staid by comparison – but this one by Ormandy is still highly enjoyable. The MSND incidental music is similarly large-scale and heavyweight compared with, for example, Ozawa and the Boston SO on DG where, I think, Ozawa’s affinity with Berlioz informs the fantasy of his direction. Flor, too, and Kubelik are much more delicate, but the Philadelphians still play beautifully. I would gripe about being given only the Scherzo from the miraculous Octet but in fact that constitutes the only major disappointment of this selection , as it is too slow and leaden compared with, for example, the version by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble on the Panorama set, so it is just as well we do not hear more of that ilk. The War March of the Priests is a negligible piece – rather conventional and prosaic compared with the best of Mendelssohn’s inspiration and I can take it or leave it – but it is only five minutes long – whereas the Hebrides Overture is an acknowledged miniature masterpiece. In truth, I find Szell’s account a little uninspired, too; it opens rather stolidly, whereas Flor and Karajan lean into that rippling sea music much more yieldingly, creating a sense of mystery and apply more dynamic variety. The poise and purity of Francescatti’s playing of the violin concerto are extraordinary, but I find his approach rather cold and showy compared with Mutter’s Romanticism; she also enjoys the symbiosis of Karajan’s accompaniment and rounder, richer sound. The First Symphony is genially played and has better sound than the other items here, fuller and deeper. There is plenty of tension and dynamic variation in Louis Lane’s phrasing and he does justice to the fifteen-year-old composer’s remarkable competence in the symphonic genre. There is often more than a hint of Mozart in the germ of the melodic ideas but a more expansive idiom redolent of a new emotional sensibility is allowed to bloom and Lane does not rush its expression, especially in the flowing Andante which is very appealing. As a bonus, we are given the alternative third movement in the form of the orchestration Mendelssohn made of the same Scherzo from his Octet played on the first CD – and here it is executed more aptly, with a more sprightly spring to its step.

This is a compendium bearing witness to Mendelssohn’s precocious and sadly truncated genius – but is it the best of its kind available? I think not, preferring the DG anthology for a number of reasons already briefly adumbrated: the complete Octet is included there and is better played; there is a lighter touch in the symphonies and the MSND music; the Hebrides Overture conveys more atmosphere and, finally, for all that I admire Francescatti, Mutter is the more emotionally demonstrative and warmer toned.

The Scherzo from the Octet apart, while there are no absolute failures, there are more winning versions to be found of almost every piece here and I would direct you to one of the alternatives I reference above.

Ralph Moore

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