February 7, 2010

Schubert and Mendelssohn. To our embarrassment, last week we failed to acknowledge not one, but two anniversaries of great composers, those of Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn. They were born just 11 years apart (Schubert on January 31, 1797, Mendelssohn on February 3, 1809), both had tragically short lives (Schubert died at the age of 31, Mendelssohn when he was 38), and their creative periods almost overlapped – Schubert's last three piano sonatas were written in 1828, while Mendelssohn's Overture A Midsummer Night's Dream was written in 1826, when he was just 17. Musically, however, they were generations apart - Schubert's sonatas belong to the world of Beethoven, while Mendelssohn's music heralds the ear of Romanticism.

It's very difficult to convey even a glimpse of Schubert's genius in a short playlist, his' output was simply too vast (Mendelssohn is more "manageable" in this respect), and so in some sense our selections are almost random. We'll hear just three compositions: Impromptu no 3 in G flat major, D 899/Op. 90 played by the pianist Matei Varga; Das Fischermädchen (The Fisher-Maiden) from the posthumous cycle Schwanengesang ("Swan song"), sung by the baritone Thomas Meglioranza with Reiko Uchida on the piano; and one of the last sonatas, Sonata in c minor, D. 958 performed by the pianist Ran Jia. To listen, click here.

We've also selected three works by Mendelssohn in "his" playlist: first, Overture from A Midsummer Night's Dream, transcribed for two pianos and played by DUO (pianists Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia); then Song without Words No. 2 in f-sharp minor, Opus 67, played by the pianist Minju Choi; and finally, the first movement, Allegro molto vivace, of Violin Concerto, played by Giora Schmidt with Israel Chamber Orchestra, Gil Shohat conduction. To listen, click here.

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