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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I love this double CD. It contains an excellent performance of Mendelssohn's wonderful Octet, of course, but also really good ones of the less well-known but immensely enjoyable String Quintets and the A minor String Quartet, which I think is a much-underrated work.
The Octet is a fabulous piece full of youthful charm and vigour, but also beautifully crafted and crammed with melodic and harmonic invention. It is simply a delight from start to finish, and the performance here does it proud with a collection of exceptionally fine musicians including stars like Monica Huggett, Pavlo Beznosiuk and Anthony Pleeth. They obviously love the music and bring real joy, tenderness and fire to it as appropriate. Technique and intonation are rock-solid throughout, and I found the choice of tempi perfect. Another reviewer here found the finale rushed, but to me it sounded just as it should - as exhilarating as the work of an ebullient sixteen-year-old genius delighting in life and in his own abilities should be.
The Quintets and Quartet are more sober works but none the less enjoyable for that. They are still very accessible and they have all that Mendelssohn joie de vivre in places, but there is often a more mature depth here. They are very rewarding, and for me they utterly confound those who maintain that Mendelssohn was just superficially pleasing and wasn't a great composer. The Quintets in particular seem to me to be chamber works of true quality and are again beautifully played by members of Hausmusik.
In short, this is fabulous music, excellently played and at a bargain price. Very warmly recommended indeed.
The Octet is a fabulous piece full of youthful charm and vigour, but also beautifully crafted and crammed with melodic and harmonic invention. It is simply a delight from start to finish, and the performance here does it proud with a collection of exceptionally fine musicians including stars like Monica Huggett, Pavlo Beznosiuk and Anthony Pleeth. They obviously love the music and bring real joy, tenderness and fire to it as appropriate. Technique and intonation are rock-solid throughout, and I found the choice of tempi perfect. Another reviewer here found the finale rushed, but to me it sounded just as it should - as exhilarating as the work of an ebullient sixteen-year-old genius delighting in life and in his own abilities should be.
The Quintets and Quartet are more sober works but none the less enjoyable for that. They are still very accessible and they have all that Mendelssohn joie de vivre in places, but there is often a more mature depth here. They are very rewarding, and for me they utterly confound those who maintain that Mendelssohn was just superficially pleasing and wasn't a great composer. The Quintets in particular seem to me to be chamber works of true quality and are again beautifully played by members of Hausmusik.
In short, this is fabulous music, excellently played and at a bargain price. Very warmly recommended indeed.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This two disc set contains the String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, the String Quintet No. 2 in B flat, the String Quintet No. 1 in A and the Octet for strings in E flat composed by Felix Mendelssohn.
The String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) in 1827. It was Mendelssohn's second string quartet and draws much of its inspiration from Beethoven's quartets.
The String Quintet No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 87, was composed by Mendelssohn in 1845. The piece is scored for two violins, two violas and cello.
The String Quintet No. 1 in A major, Op. 18, was composed in 1826 and revised in 1832. The piece is scored for two violins, two violas and cello.
The Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 was composed in the autumn of 1825, when the composer was aged 16. The original score is for a double string quartet with 4 violins and pairs of violas and cellos.
I have been a fan of Mendelssohn for some time and love these recordings. I am no expert in these matters and leave others to praise the 'consummate mastery' with which the Octet is performed and 'the wonderful energy of the Scherzo and Presto'.
What I do know is that I find the works beautiful, and derive pleasure from listening to them. Can one ask more?
The String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) in 1827. It was Mendelssohn's second string quartet and draws much of its inspiration from Beethoven's quartets.
The String Quintet No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 87, was composed by Mendelssohn in 1845. The piece is scored for two violins, two violas and cello.
The String Quintet No. 1 in A major, Op. 18, was composed in 1826 and revised in 1832. The piece is scored for two violins, two violas and cello.
The Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 was composed in the autumn of 1825, when the composer was aged 16. The original score is for a double string quartet with 4 violins and pairs of violas and cellos.
I have been a fan of Mendelssohn for some time and love these recordings. I am no expert in these matters and leave others to praise the 'consummate mastery' with which the Octet is performed and 'the wonderful energy of the Scherzo and Presto'.
What I do know is that I find the works beautiful, and derive pleasure from listening to them. Can one ask more?
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Excellent performances in a great clear recording. Only the finale of the Octet disappointed: the players set off at too fast a pace to allow the theme to be heard. Would be five stars without the rushed finale.
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