Composer of the Week - Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn (1809-1847 and 1805-1847) - Episode 3

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. He concentrates on Felix's growing popularity as he receives his first commissions following his grand tour, contrasting it with his sister's adaptation to married life. She starts her own salon in the Mendelssohn family home, where she can play and conduct her own works. Including one of those commissioned works which became known as the Italian Symphony, a cantata premiered at Fanny's musical evenings, plus the last major work she would write for many years to come. Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Op 19 No 6 Luba Edlina (piano) Chandos CHAN 89489, CD1 Tr 6 Duration: 2m18s Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Op 30 No 2 Luba Edlina (piano) Chandos CHAN 89489, Tr 8 Duration: 2m13s Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat Erato Quartett Basel CPO 999 679-2 Trs 1-4 Duration: 19m47s Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony (1st mvt) Philharmonia Orchestra Walter Weller (conductor) Chandos CHAN 10224(3) X, CD3 Tr 1 Duration: 10m38s Mendelssohn: Die Erste Walpurgisnacht (excerpt) Eberhard Buchner (tenor) Siegfried Lorenz (baritone) Siegfried Vogel (bass) Rundfunkchor Leipzig Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Kurt Masur (conductor) Berlin Classics BC 2057-2, Trs 8-11 Duration: 11m56s.