New CD captures Mendelssohn's teen spirit

Youthful exuberance describes not only Felix Mendelssohn's early orchestral works; it also aptly depicts the founder and music director of the orchestra that performs Mendelssohn on this new release. Mendelssohn was still a young teen when he composed these symphonies. Thomas Fey was still a student in 1987 when he founded an early music ensemble. That chamber ensemble eventually grew into the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra made its debut on New Year's Day, 1994 with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. After recording a highly acclaimed cycle of Beethoven symphonies, Fey and his orchestra are now starting to record the symphonies of Mendelssohn. This is volume one in that cycle.

Mendelssohn's teacher, Carl Friedrich Zelter, wanted his 12-year-old student to study compositional form, technique and part writing. Mendelssohn carried out the assignment by writing a set of string symphonies. This disc includes the capstone of the set, published as the Symphony No. 1, as well as two pieces that carry the title String Symphony: No. 8 and No. 13, which is just a single movement.

Mendelssohn completed his String Symphony No. 8 at age 13. Three days after finishing this work, he drafted a second version, rescoring some passages for wind instruments. On this recording, Thomas Fey and the Heidelberg Symphony perform the version with winds. In this orchestra, the string players use modern instruments but the wind players perform on historic instruments of Mendelssohn's day. You might think of it as the best of both worlds.

As the flutes rise above the strings in the first movement, Beethoven comes to mind. He often plucked musical thoughts from nature. The sound Mendelssohn calls from the wind instruments is reminiscent of bird song, which he heard during his daily walks. Mendelssohn channels Beethoven once again in the finale of this string symphony. The wind instruments take turns singing the theme, which brings out a wealth of orchestral colors.

For the Symphony No. 1, his first mature symphony, Mendelssohn chose the key of C minor, the same key as Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. That famous piece seems to permeate every pore of Mendelssohn's First. The opening movement lunges out of the gate with bold chords that set the mood right away. Mendelssohn waits for no one. He states the opening theme within the first minute of the first movement. Fey keeps the tempo moving, as if to say, "Catch me if you can." Mendelssohn was just 15 when he composed this work. The racing tempo implies he was bursting with ideas. The Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra's bright, energetic quality matches Mendelssohn's conception of youthful joy in his Symphony No. 1.

The sounds of springtime flourish in these youthful symphonies by Mendelssohn. This composer lived a short, fast-paced life and it's evident in listening to these early works that he had no time to waste. He was compelled to spill the notes onto the page as quickly as possible. As a composer, Mendelssohn may not usually be ranked at the same artistic level as Beethoven or Mozart, yet this recording with Thomas Fey and the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra will give you a new appreciation for what this impressive young prodigy had to offer.

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