Includes song(s) without words by Felix Mendelssohn. Soloists: Axel Strauss, Cord Garben.

It's good to have Rena Kyriakou's lovingly cultivated Mendelssohn Songs Without Words available again through Arkivmusic.com's on-demand reprint program, despite Vox's dry 1962 sonics and occasional fuzzy residue on high notes that I remember from my old LP pressings--is that a master tape defect? Kyriakou favors leisurely tempos and spins legato lines with subtle and attractive shadings that make even old standbys like the Spring Song and the Hunting Song emerge freshly minted to jaded ears. In numbers such as Hope, the Fleecy Cloud, Spinning Song, and the Evening Star, hear the striking timbral differentiation between the main melodies and the perfectly controlled, softly whirling accompaniments, or notice the sustained breadth she brings to the Duetto and the Elegy.

A thoughtfully integrated yet scintillating-when-appropriate (the final variations) rendition of the Variations sérieuses proves more than mere filler, although more dynamically characterized and colorful interpretations can be had, past (Horowitz, Cortot) and present (Perahia, Thibaudet). I hope the balance of Kyriakou's Vox Mendelssohn cycle will appear in due course.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Organ

Classical Music

Founded in 2005, the Escher String Quartet is still a young ensemble as string quartets go. It has nevertheless become established as one of the most exciting quartets around, both in its home country, the U.S.A., and elsewhere, recently being shortlisted for a BBC Music Magazine Award. With their début disc on BIS, the Eschers launch a three-disc cycle of Mendelssohn’s string quartets, including the unnumbered String Quartet in E flat major and – on coming instalments – the four pieces for string quartet Op.81.

Reviews:

This is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner; extrovert and eloquent. Rich tone, good balance and a particularly noteworthy expressiveness from the first violin, Adam Barnett-Hart, who offers that rare ability not only to sing but also to speak through the instrument.

– BBC Music Magazine

The Escher are fervent advocates of the E flat Quartet, imbuing the slow movement with a luxuriant warmth. There's no doubting the players' musicianship or technical ability, which are caught with admirable immediacy.

–Gramophone

The Eschers sound warm, relaxed and responsive to all of Mendelssohn’s expressive nuances. They lavish full, red-blooded tone on the slow movement of the genial Quartet No 1, and in the restless Quartet No 4 they keep the momentum striving forward, with first violinist Adam Barnett-Hart spinning long, seamless phrases.

– Guardian (UK)

MENDELSSOHN: 7 Characteristic Pieces, Op. 7 / Fantasia, Op.

MENDELSSOHN: Sonata in B-Flat Major / Fantasies, Op. 16

As I remarked last November when Vol. 1 of this cycle appeared, the multiplicity of notes in Mendelssohn’s piano music sometimes lays him open to the charge of ‘note-spinning’. So what higher praise for Frith than to say that thanks to his fluency, tact and fancy, not a single work in this second volume seems to outstay its welcome.

The unchallengeable masterpiece, of course, is the Variations serieuses, so enthusiastically taken up by Clara Schumann, and still a repertory work today. Frith characterizes each variation with telling contrasts of tempo and touch without sacrificing the continuity and unity of the whole. Equally importantly, never for a moment does he allow us to forget the serieuses of the title. I was no less impressed by his sensitively varied palette in the early E major Sonata (unmistakable homage to Beethoven’s Op. 101) so often helped by subtle pedalling. But surely the recitative of the Adagio at times needs just a little more intensity and underlying urgency.

Of the miniatures the six Kinderstucke (“Christmas Pieces” – written for the children of a friend) emerge with an unforced charm. As music they lack the romance of Schumann’s ventures into a child’s world, just as the Three Studies do of Chopin’s magical revelations in this sphere. However, Frith’s fingers never let him down. In the first B flat Study he even seems to acquire a third hand to sustain its middle melody. For sheer seductive grace, the independent Gondellied haunts my memory most of all, here with its melody so gracefully floated over a gently gliding bass. With pleasantly natural sound in its favour, too, this disc could surely sell at more than its modest price.'

-- Joan Chissell, Gramophone [5/1996]

MENDELSSOHN: 6 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35 / 3 Caprices, Op.

Classical Music

MENDELSSOHN: Piano Sextet, Op. 110 / Piano Quartet No. 1

Classical Music

These are three of the masterpieces by Mendelssohn. Alon Goldstein is one of the finest young pianists performing today. Yoav Talmi and the Israel Chamber Orchestra deliver superb, committed performances.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

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MENDELSSOHN Piano Concertos: No. 1; No. 2. Rondo brilliant • Martin Helmchen (pn); Philippe Herreweghe, cond; Royal Flemish PO • PENTATONE 5186 366 (SACD: 55:02)


I was introduced to these two delightful concertos by Murray Perahia and Neville Marriner in their 1975 CBS (Sony) release, and these quicksilver performances are still what I hear in my head when I think of these works. Perahia’s performances remain in the catalog, and despite brightly lit analog sound, are very much in the running for finest recording of these lighthearted showpieces. I was equally taken with the Schiff/Dutoit versions when they made their appearance on CD in the early days of digital, Schiff being, if anything, even more brilliant and fleet of finger. Thibaudet’s (and Blomstedt’s) big-boned traversal of these scores was less pleasing at first, though the extra weight certainly does not come at the expense of dazzling passagework. Thibaudet’s Mendelssohn, played “as fast as possible provided that the notes can be heard” as the composer preferred, simply strikes me as a bit aloof, impressive as it is.


No one would ever call this new recording by the talented young (at 28) German pianist Martin Helmchen aloof. The 2001 Clara Haskil competition winner, an exclusive PentaTone artist, has now recorded seven releases with the Dutch label, including some very fine Schubert chamber and solo music, two Mozart concertos of notable lucidity, and an acclaimed release of the seldom-recorded Dvo?ák Piano Concerto. The delicacy of touch and graceful phrasing of the Mozart, in particular, promised an interesting outing with the Mendelssohn, and so it has turned out. Helmchen is not as flashy as Perahia or Schiff, preferring to emphasize warmth and expressiveness over precision and sheer velocity, though he lacks neither. There is an appealing geniality to the opening movement of the Concerto No. 1 that gives a good impression of the performances to come. The lovely but rather indulgent poetics of the Andante raise some concerns about fussiness, and the fanfare leading into the Presto finale—shades of A Midsummer Night’s Dream —could be more brilliant, but overall the soloist compensates with playing of sensitivity and, in the finale, dazzling energy.


As with the very different Thibaudet, though, it is the D-minor Concerto that responds best to this artist’s approach. The initial darkness is emphasized by Helmchen’s understated opening, but the proceedings don’t stay low-key for very long. Like the French pianist, he sees this as a much more substantial statement than anything in the rather frivolous G-Minor Concerto, so he and Herreweghe give it weight but refuse to drive the movement as hard as Thibaudet does. It and the following Adagio are lovingly shaped, with more rubato than either Schiff or Perahia allow themselves. Helmchen and company round things off with a Presto scherzando that, after the opening bars, is less about digital fireworks than amiable farewells. Nicely done. The seldom-heard Rondo brilliant is primarily about fireworks, however, and both soloist and orchestra indulge themselves enthusiastically.


Helmchen has the notable quirk of underlining quieter passages by exaggerating the dynamic and slowing the tempo, in a couple of instances almost to a stop. The effect borders on the precious, though I can’t say it ever crosses the line. Some will see it as exquisite, or spiritual, and I won’t argue. Some listeners may object to the orchestra’s restrained application of vibrato, and the hard sticks used on the timpani. Others may feel that the accompaniment is a little too discreet compared to Marriner or Blomstedt. Still, if Helmchen won’t displace Perahia and Schiff in the pantheon, he certainly can join them as a compelling alternative. And given the sound of this release—warm, detailed, nicely balanced, and with just the right amount of sharpness to the piano to make it sparkle—this may well be the audiophile’s first choice.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

REVIEWS:
American Record Guide (11-12/97, p.156) - "...It is as if a mere reading
of the notes on the page in metronomic precision qualifies as a
performance. The result is enough to make one hate Mendelssohn organ
works..."