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Musical talent tends to run in families. Think of the Schubert brothers Franz and Ferdinand, Joseph and Michael Haydn and Mozart father and son. But, maybe, the most famous couple are the musical siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn.
The Mendelssohns grew up making music together in Berlin at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Felix (1809-1847), younger by four years, became one of history's most brilliant composers. Fanny, a strong-willed pianist but worried about her worth as a composer, has been neglected. Still, as Felix's career soared and Fanny struggled to publish her pieces, the two remained close. Indeed, the connection between the two was more than brother and sister; it was almost like soulmates.
Other than playing and conducting in salon settings, Fanny made just one public appearance, as soloist in her brother's First Piano Concerto at a benefit concert.
Listen — Felix Mendelssohn: Molto allegro con fuoco
(Piano Concerto No 1 in G minor)
(487 0256 track 1, 0:01-0:56) ℗ 2024 Universal Music Operations Ltd :
Very little of her music was published in her lifetime, and much of it today remains privately owned. Overall, Fanny wrote four-hundred-and-sixty pieces of music, including many 'Songs without Words' for which her brother later became famous.
Listen — Felix Mendelssohn: Allegro non troppo in E (Lieder ohne Worte)
(487 0256 track 8, 0:00-0:36) ℗ 2024 Universal Music Operations Ltd :
Musicologists now believe Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) pioneered this musical form.
The year 1847 can be truly considered as a most tragic one for the Mendelssohn family. On 14 May Fanny died suddenly of a stroke aged forty-one, leaving Felix utterly crushed. Indeed, the pain was unbearable and, two months later, he also died after a series of strokes, aged only thirty-eight. Appropriately, they are buried next to each other in Berlin.
Mendelssohn explores three facets of one of the most famous names in classical music: the glorious Piano Concerto No 1 by Felix with the London Mozart Players, the long-lost Easter Sonata by Fanny, as well as transcriptions by Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Moszkowski of Felix's most famous music.
Listen — Fanny Mendelssohn: Notturno in G minor, H 337
(487 0256 track 9, 7:06-7:58) ℗ 2024 Universal Music Operations Ltd :
In 2024 Isata Kanneh-Mason featured in the critically acclaimed film The Other Mendelssohn, which explores the life of the neglected Fanny. In the film they uncover the fact that the Easter Sonata, a piece lost for a-hundred-and-fifty years, was in fact written by Fanny and not Felix. Isata is the first artist to perform the work attributed to the correct composer.
Listen — Fanny Mendelssohn: Allegro con strepito (Ostersonate H 235)
(487 0256 track 13, 7:06-7:58) ℗ 2024 Universal Music Operations Ltd :
This Decca issue is indeed a stunner, not only for its music-making, which is inspired all through, but also for its historic factuality which, as in this case, is so vital in putting the record straight where there are errors that damage the real event. An enchanting album, sensitively performed and sumptuously recorded, which confirms the genius of both the Mendelssohn siblings, particularly Fanny, whose wonderful catalogue of works is still waiting to be discovered for what it is. Heartily recommended.
Copyright © 25 July 2024
Gerald Fenech,
Gzira, Malta