Probably no other composer besides Mozart has shown such a childlike genius as Mendelssohn. His early blooming talent made Mendelssohn a phenomenon, and his significance in adulthood only increased, placing him on par (quite rightly) with the greatest - Bach, Beethoven, and of course Mozart. Then came the inevitable decline of his reputation. His comfortable upbringing from a bourgeois banking family (from which the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn originated) did not fit the image of an artist of the 19th century - a struggling and persecuted soul of the Romantic era.
The distortions of the Nazi regime, which banned his music because he was a Jew, actually sealed his fate, if we do not count the recognition for literally a few of his works. But Mendelssohn is much more than the composer of the Scottish and Italian Symphonies, the Violin Concerto, and the oratorio Elijah.
The music on these 40 discs not only shows his early developed talent, evident in the Octet composed at the age of 16, a work of pure genius - his piano concertos show excellent craftsmanship and quality of technique. The string quartets are very underrated, showing Mendelssohn's great admiration for Beethoven's quartets. They are masterpieces that fully satisfy upon closer acquaintance.
Mendelssohn is rightly considered today as one of the great composers, and the works in this excellent anthology show the heart and soul of a man overvalued in life and too long underrated after death.
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