Freiburger Barockorchester - Mendelssohn: Symphonies 3 & 4 on CD

Description

Product Description In later life, Mendelssohn always opposed the use of the terms Scottish and Italian for his symphonies in A minor and A major respectively, as if to emphasise their qualities as pure music. Yet they were directly inspired by his European Grand Tour of 1829-32: from the gloomy ruins of Holyrood Abbey to the sun-drenched landscapes of Rome and Naples, his imagination fashioned masterpieces that have seldom been surpassed for their sense of orchestral colour, vividly brought out here by the period instruments of the Freiburger Barockorchester. Review 'extremely lively and incisive account of the Scottish and Italian symphonies by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.' --Nicholas Kenyon The Observer, 31st January 2016 'The woodwinds restored prominence has been a vital achievement of the period-instrument movement; in these vivid performances, it serves Mendelssohn s brilliant writing well. But the balance can tip too far. Especially in the Italian (No 4), quiet string passages here are sometimes hardly more than a whisper. And in the first-movement development section, in the new theme s fortissimo transition from E minor to A minor, where are those crucial cello and bass minims? Nowhere. So, losses as well as gains.' --David Cairns The Sunday Times, 14th February 2016