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PASC053:
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 (Italian) - Mendelssohn
MP3
price
Munich
Philharmonia Orchestra
Conducted by Fritz Rieger
Recorded
in c.1951, released as Deutsche Grammmophon 16019 LP
Download ID: 223709
(Duration
28'11")
Play
sample movement:
Introduction:
Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany on 3rd February, 1809 into
a distinguished and afflluent family of bankers, intellectuals and artists.
A child prodigy, he produced his first composition in 1820; a constant
stream of work continued throughout his relatively short life - he died
in Leipzig on 4th November, 1847 at the age of just 38. These notes, which
accompany Pristine Audio's Mendelssohn Edition, released to mark the 160th
anniversary of his oratio Elijah,
our first award-winning release for Divine Art, follow Mendelssohn's life
through eight compositions newly remastered for August 2006.
The
Mendelssohn Trail - Part 3 of 8
Music completed 1833
Mendelssohn
travelled widely throughout his life - indeed it was partly exhaustion
due to overwork and too much travelling which accelerated his early death
- and the 'Italian' Symphony is testament to that travel. Begun on a visit
to Italy, it was completed in Berlin as a result of a commission from
the London Philharmonic Society to compose "a symphony, an overture
and a vocal piece" for 100 guineas that he'd received in November
1832.
Although
at that point he was having acute misgivings about the work, he carried
on with it and by its completion the following April was satisfied with
what he'd done. He took it with him to London on a visit beginning the
end of that month, and the work was premiered by the Philharmonic Society
at a concert given on 13th May - shortly before dashing off back to Germany
to conduct at a music festival in Dusseldorf which began just 13 days
later.
The Symphony,
published posthumously as Op. 90, is generally regarded as one of his
most successful orchestral works. Mendelssohn had intended to continue
revising it prior to publication - instead what we have is a work of great
spontaneity and originality, often delicately and openly scored, and entirely
musically satisfying. Indeed, it's hard to see what revision he might
have made which could further improve it, beyond perhaps some minor tinkering
around the edges. This was the still-youthful composer at full command
of his compositional powers, apparently bursting with musical ideas. Though
he was never to lose his skills, some critics felt that later works began
to lack the level of inventiveness he showed earlier in this life - there
can certainly be no criticism of that here.
The
Mendelssohn Trail - on to part
4
Back to start
REVIEW
OF Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony
(Munich
Philharmonia Orchestra, Fritz Rieger)
Felix
Mendelssohn has always been something of a puzzle to me. I
consider him the greatest of all music prodigies. The Octet
at 16 and the Overture to a Midsummer Nights Dream at 17 are
surely the greatest music ever written by a teenager. Yet
the questions have always been asked: “Did he fulfill
his brilliant promise? And “Why is his later work so
uneven in quality?” Hans von Bulow wittily said that
Mendelssohn started out as a great genius and ended up as
a promising talent. That this bon mot is not entirely true
is evidenced by some of the great works Mendelssohn wrote
as an adult: the “Scotch Symphony”, the Violin Concerto,
the remainder of the Midsummer Night’s Dream incidental
music and the “Italian Symphony”, the work at hand.
The English also show an excessive fondness for the oratorio
“Elijah”.
The
conductor in this recording, Fritz Rieger, is barely remembered
for his conducting of Fischer-Dieskau in one of the great
song cycles of the 20th century, “Lebendig Begraben”
(Buried Alive) by the Swiss composer, Othmar Schoek. The evidence
from this performance is that he is a superior conductor,
more classically than romantically oriented.
He
begins the first movement at a moderate tempo, downplaying
the brilliance of the strings somewhat and bringing out the
woodwinds and brass. There is excellent tension and continuity
throughout, not just in the brilliant bits. He does not take
the exposition repeat which denies us of about 20 measures
of fine transition to the beginning. In the development the
tension never flags and Rieger knows where the real climaxes
are. The transition to the recapitulation is breathtaking,
creating in us a yearning for the great opening theme. The
second theme is clothed in rich strings and the ending is
very exciting.
The
second movement is more measured and somber than I am used
to, but full of incident. The third movement is subdued and
a bit sad and seems more Scotch than Italian.
The
final movement is taken at a moderate tempo with great wind
articulation. The playing and conducting are brilliant throughout
and bring the symphony to an emotionally satisfying conclusion.
Somehow, played this way, the symphony seems more substantial
than usual when it is played primarily for brilliance. <>The
sound is, like the performance, more substantial than brilliant.
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