Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Overtures
London Symphony Orchestra/Claudio Abbado
rec. 1984-86, various locations, London
Deutsche Grammophon 423 104-2 [74]
I am occasionally surprised to find that although a recording has been several times referred to and highly recommended by reviewers on this site it has never actually been reviewed, so I have returned to this to bring it to readers’ attention. It is a generously filled compilation, recorded over two years in four different London locations by a conductor and orchestra on top form and never really been superseded since its release nearly forty years ago.
The drive and energy of these performances is really quite remarkable, as is the nimbleness of the LSO bank of strings, so noticeable in the delicate, rippling ppp arpeggios, played very fast in the overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream – but Abbado is also capable of creating a truly numinous quality in the quiet openings of the “Calm Sea” and The Hebrides. There is heft, too, such as in the climax of the latter; some critics have complained that Abbado brings to much gravitas to the music but overtures such as Ruy Blas have a grand and heroic element which needs bringing out and provides both variety of mood and contrast to the more playful items. I personally was not acquainted with The Fair Melusina until I acquired this disc; it is a charming take, in sonata form, on the favourite Romantic theme of the mermaid who finds mortal love on land but is forced to return to her ocean home. It is full of typically Mendelssohnian tropes and one of three longer pieces here which excel in depicting watery landscapes and emotional extremes. The Overture for Wind Instruments was written even earlier than the Shakespeare overture and Trumpet Overture, when the composer was only fifteen, and evinces the influence of Mozart while still being recognisably in the young Mendelssohn’s own style, building to a rousing military climax.
Despite these recordings having been made disparately by different teams of engineers they are uniformly and homogeneously excellent, perfectly balanced with lots of air around them but highly detailed; we hear all the colours of Mendelssohn’s inexhaustibly inventive orchestration and the disc is generously filled.
(I have reviewed this from the CD which is still available from such as Amazon but on some sites such as Presto only as a download. There are also plenty of second-hand copies on eBay.)
Ralph Moore
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Contents
Die schöne Melusine Overture, Op. 32, MWV P12
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture, Op. 21
Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Op. 27, MWV P5
Overture for Wind Instruments, Op. 24, MWV P1
Trumpet Overture, Op. 101, MWV P2
Ruy Blas Overture, Op. 95
The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26, MWV P7 “Fingal’s Cave”
