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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A great Mendelssohn album Jun 11, 2008
Yet another great recording from Murray Perahia and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields! This recording has really helped me in preparing to perform one of the Mendelssohn concertos myself; great sound quality on the actual recording as well as the superb technique exhibited makes this album one of my favorites!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Very fine readings, but this music needs more help Nov 28, 2007
Perahia plays the two Mendelssohn concertos at face value. The sparkling allegros and prestos fly by with elegant, brilliant ease. Perahia seems to believe in this music as light-hearted post-Mozart without Mozart's poignancy, and therefore he doesn't interpret it very personally. The accompaniments from the ASMF orchestra are suitably discreet and small-scaled. The other reviewers here are totally satisifed, but if you turn to Rudolf Serkin's account of Concerto #1 (Sony), his joyous ebullience is combined with virtuosic attack, and frainkly, Mendelssohn's concertos need that extra attention. Taken at face value, they contain too many routine, repetitive stretches to hold a listener's undivided attention, particularly in the bland slow movements, which barely rise above prettiness. Perahia's discreet delicacy is well and good, but Serkin wants to win the listener over, to make a stronger case than these pieces can on their own.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A great CD Sep 21, 2007
This is a wonderful CD, with some beautiful music played sensitively and with eloquence.
The 2nd Piano Concerto would make my list of "underappreciated classical works." It's very attractive and just plain touching; I believe the best word to describe the 2nd movt. is "limpid." . Perahia and the orchestra produce a simply beautiful sound for the 2nd and 3rd mvts, which for me are the heart of the work. The 2nd Concerto is for me a far better work than the patchy and frequently uninteresting 1st Concerto, which for some reason is better known.
The solo works are outstanding. Let's start with the Prelude & Fugue in e minor. I initially knew this work from Julius Katchen's unattractive and mediocre performance and never paid it much heed. Perahia's exciting performance made me completely perk up and led me to love the work. Perahia brings out the dynamism and drama of this work, which reinterprets the Baroque form to infuse it with Romantic emotionalism. If you've never heard this piece, you must hear Perahia's performance. The interpretations of the fine Variations serieuses and Rondo are excellent.
This is an outstanding disk and I think one of Perahia's finest achievements.
One of my favorite composers Feb 06, 2007
TRULY AN HOUR OR SO OF REAL ENJOYMENT
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
A Legendary Recording Nov 05, 2005
There are so many things that could be said about this recording. It deserves a spot on any top 50 classical recordings list. The piece and the performance are both 5 stars. Mendelssohn is an undeservingly neglected composer. He is ususally thought of as an orchestral composer, since his command of the orchestra is parallel to Mozart's. But in his own time, he was as great a pianist as anyone else. Even many pianists these days neglect or don't know much about his piano works. This is partly because his piano works are less "catchy" than what the romantic piano is often known for, (the piano concerto no. 1 is an exception). They are longer, more traditional, and require more patience, as compared to Chopin's short pieces, Schubert's Impromtus, etc. But they are just as good.
The piano concerto no. 1 in my opinion ties Tchaikovsky's piano concerto no. 1 as the greatest romantic piano concerto. If you've never heard it, it's absolutely mesmorizing. You won't get it out of your head for a week. And it's not performed very often. It captures your attention right away with a sense that something huge is imminent. Then it waists no time in quickly developing into a great, strong, but fairly simple theme. Then it hammers the theme with double octaves, and mixes it in with arpeggios. The whole effect creates a very classic, "nothing else like it" effect, much like Beethoven's 5th. As a piano concerto, Mendelssohn being a master of the orchestra avoids one of the potential pitfalls of focusing on the piano so much that the quality of the orchestral writing is comprimised. Like Mozart's late piano concertos, he manages to pull off a great balance with the orchestra, not a domination. The strings shadow the piano perfectly, with the brass supplying foundation, and the woodwinds adding color and having neat little solos. Few composers can pull off such a feat so perfectly. The piano concerto no. 2 is also very good, with a strong theme that develops after 45 seconds during the first movement, but it is not quite like the first. The three piano pieces at the end are very good, but they are overshadowed by the orchestral greatness of the concertos. As stated before, they require some patience.
Murray Perahia is as good as any other pianist at performing Mendelssohn, and Sir Neville Marriner conducts very well. Perahia always performs very lively and never lets down. The whole thing comes out beautifully. As great as these pieces are, I've heard other recordings of them, and they didn't sound nearly as good. They sounded flat and lacked energy. This is the definitive recording for these truly great concertos.
One last comment, this is one of those rare special pieces of music that captivates people of all musical styles, not just classical listeners. People start to become facinated with it right away, similar to Beethoven's 5th. Very few pieces have that power. Bach's harpsichord concertos and organ music, Haydn's Great masses, Mozart's late piano concertos, Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Chopin's fantasie-impromtu and 2nd piano sonata, and Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto and 1812 overture all are examples. I have a friend who's a school music teacher, who showed this recording to kids who mainly listen to pop, rock, and rap, and many of them liked it. I've also seen many adults who listen to jazz, 80's, or nothing-in-particular like it as well. If you're looking to give a non-classical listener a taste of what they're missing, this Cd would make an excellent choice.
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