Composer of the Week - Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn (1809-1847 and 1805-1847) - Episode 1

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies whose lives took very different paths, but whose music had much in common. The programme focuses on their early years, with the two both growing up in each other's pockets - with the same teachers and the same musical influences. While Fanny was often described as the better pianist of the two, that would change when the 12-year-old Felix was invited to go and play for Goethe, while Fanny was left behind. It marked the first major step in her exclusion from the musical limelight into which Felix was about to step. Fanny Mendelssohn: Suleika und Hatem Sophie Daneman (soprano) Mark Padmore (tenor) Eugene Asti (piano) Hyperion CDA67388, Tr 12 Duration: 2m23s Mendelssohn: String symphony No 3 in E minor Hanover Band Roy Goodman (conductor) RCA 09026 68069 2 CD1 Trs 7-9 Duration: 9m11s Mendelssohn: Double Piano Concerto in E (3rd mvt) Roland Pontinen, Love Derwinger (pianos) Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam Lev Markiz (conductor) BIS CD-688, Tr 3 Duration: 7m50s Mendelssohn: Piano Quartet in B minor, Op 3 (1st mvt) Domus Virgin Classics VC7911832 Duration: 8m48s Mendelssohn: Pilgerspruch, Op 8 No 5 Fanny Mendelssohn: Das Heimweh, Op 8 No 2 Stephan Loges (baritone) Eugene Asti (piano) Hyperion CDA67388, Trs 23 and 15 Durations: 2m17s, 2m17s Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (for piano duet) Duo Egri and Pertis Hungaroton HCD 32410, Tr 53 Duration: 11m23s.