This CD is entirely filled with new discoveries from the oeuvre of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), a composer whose fame is so great and whose music has been studied so extensively that one would not expect to come across unknown material any time soon. It will be opened with the Symphony No. 4, nicknamed the 'Italian'. The novelty here is that an unpublished version from 1833/1834, revised
… by Mendelssohn, is played. After the first performances under his direction, Mendelssohn, among other things, revised the orchestration and increased the density of the thematic relationships. While interesting, the distinction is probably not very striking to the average listener. More interesting are the two vocal works. First of all, 'Infelice!', A concert aria on Italian text from 1834, will sound. designed according to the Italian 'scena ed aria' concept (recitative, slow aria, interruption, fast aria). A recording premiere is also the aria 'On Lena's gloomy heath', composed in 1842 for an English bass-baritone. The remarkable thing about both last works is that they eloquently remind us that Mendelssohn had intense operatic ambitions all his life, but never realized them. That is exactly what makes this CD so interesting. (JvG) but which never realized. That is exactly what makes this CD so interesting. (JvG) but which never realized. That is exactly what makes this CD so interesting. (JvG)more
