The 99 Most Essential Mendelssohn Masterpieces (Amazon Exclusive) Reviews
The 99 Most Essential Mendelssohn Masterpieces (Amazon Exclusive)
(out of 3 reviews)
Price: $ 1.99
Sounds of Kauai
From the jungles, streams, and waterfalls, to the gentle surf of the ocean, Sounds of Kauai brings you all the natural enjoyment of Hawaii. Relax to all original classical guitar backed with nature sounds, written and recorded on the beautiful island of Kauai.
This CD features a soothing nature background with slowly changing environments shifting from waves to streams, to waterfalls and rain. Relaxing solo classical guitar and duets progressively slow in pace to ease you into relaxat
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(out of 9 reviews)
List Price: $ 14.99
Price: $ 14.99
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Review by T. Fisher for The 99 Most Essential Mendelssohn Masterpieces (Amazon Exclusive)
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This is a great collection of the music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, which shows the complexity and depth of his compositions.
Mendelssohn’s music can still suffer from a reputation of superficiality. Most of this can be traced back to the anti-Semitic ravings of Richard Wagner, who made Mendelssohn a prime case in point in his pamphlet “Das Judenthum in der Musik” (Jewishness in Music). Wagner wrote that Mendelssohn’s music is “sweet and tinkling without depth”. This became practically official goverment policy in Germany under the Nazis — one of the first actions at the Berlin Philharmonic after the Nazis came to power was to take down Mendelssohn’s picture from the concert hall.
Wagner’s views took hold in England, and thus indirectly in the US as well, through critics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially George Bernard Shaw. Shaw was the author of “The Perfect Wagnerite” and an unabashed Wagner aficionado. He criticized Mendelssohn’s “conventional sentimentality”. Mendelssohn was eventually linked in the public consciousness with the values and culture of the Victorian era, and thus suffered neglect when those values were outgrown.
Even after World War II, Mendelssohn was rather on the fringe rather than the core of performance in most of Germany, except perhaps in Leipzig, where he was remembered as former conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra and founder of the music conservatory.
The result of all this is that a few key pieces, like the Overture and Wedding March from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the Violin Concerto, have become overplayed staples, while others works were often second-string concert fillers. His chamber works are performed quite a bit, but these draw smaller crowds than symphonies.
But I think one of the reasons criticisms of Mendelssohn gained so much traction is that there is a kernel of oversimplified truth to them. Mendelssohn’s music is indeed fairly upbeat a lot of the time. Today we would call it “accessible”, which can be a dirty word in many circles. He was certainly not a brooding musical soul, pouring out his pathos like a Mahler, or a musical ideologue like Wagner. His music is easy to like and easy to listen to. But you can say the same of Mozart.
Despite all this, the compositions in this collection show, starting out with the first track (“The Hebrides”), that Mendelssohn really was a composer of depth with tremendous ability and a broad emotional palette — including a good dose of melancholy, if not pathos. Check out the 5th Symphony, or the 1st. Or the concertos for one or two pianos. Or any number of chamber works, such as Piano Trio No. 1, early String Symphonies, or the sonatas. There is emotional range and depth to burn.
The orchestral works are perhaps the heart of the set, with all but one of Mendelssohn’s five symphonies included. Except for two symphonies performed by the Bamberg symphony Orchestra under Austrian conductor Han Swarowsky, they are by different orchestras and conductors. I really enjoyed the 1st Symphony performed by the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich (Dmitri’s son). The omnipresent Violin Concerto is performed ably by soloist Jaime Laredo and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the lesser-known Concerto for Violin and Strings is also here. There are good performances of both Piano Concertos as well as both Concertos for Two Pianos. Only the double concerto for piano and violin is missing among the concertos.
The set has a broad and satisfying selection of chamber music, including the Clarinet Sonata, the two excellent String Quintets, Piano Trio No. 1, the 1838 Violin Sonata, and two of the 12 String Symphonies he wrote as a child. There is also a nice selection of organ music, with the Three Preludes and Fugues for Organ, and two of his six Organ Sonatas.
The parts of Mendelssohn’s work that appear underrepresented are sacred and choral works, and songs. Psalm 42 is included in its entirety, and selections from “Three Psalms” and “Sechs Sprüche” for Choir. These offer a glimpse into this part of Mendelssohn’s work. But as with all these collections, it is always possible to argue about what is included and what is left out — there is no way to satisfy everybody.
The performances, as with most of the collections by X5 in its “Most Essential” series, are first rate, but are generally not by the most famous names. I have listened to extended samples from all the works here, and was impressed by the overall performance quality.
Bitrates vary from 184 to 247 Kbps, with most in the 220s or 230s. Only two tracks are below 200 Kbps. I haven’t come across any disappointing encoding artifacts or distortion so far — quality seems good from a technical standpoint too.
Overall, this is a great collection of excellent music by a composer that deserves a lot more credit and attention than history has given him. Highly recommended!
Review by March Eliot for The 99 Most Essential Mendelssohn Masterpieces (Amazon Exclusive)
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Before you read my review, I hope you read T. Fisher’s which is as usual extremely helpful and informative.
I am giving this set 5 stars because, while it is a mixture of wonderful performances with a few duds, there’s more than enough good stuff here to amply repay the low price many times over. What is wonderful about a set like this is the chance to acquire some lesser-known works one might not be willing to spend $15 to try out. This collection is full of obscure gems, alongside the canonical works that are rightly loved.
First, I have to sing the praises of the absolutely first-rate performances of the two string quintets by the aptly named Mendelssohn Quartet, from a BIS recording. While overshadowed by the luminous Octet, Mendelssohn’s Quintets are marvelous underrated chamber masterpieces. They are performed here with great brio and technical exactness.
The famous Violin Concerto is performed by Jaime Laredo with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, in a performance available on CD from Regis Records. The recorded sound is a trifle flat compared with the best digital recordings of this work, but I have no reservations about the performance.
The early concerto for violin and strings is also here (Isabelle van Keulen is the soloist); the recording is again from BIS. This is not in my opinion a work to compare with the more famous concerto, but it is performed with aristocratic refinement by van Keulen. Unlike the more famous work, this one is captured in resonant–perhaps slightly too resonant–acoustics.
Also present here is the little-known Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra, performed by the incomparable Ronald Brautigam. I believe this too is taken from a BIS recording, where Brautigam is accompanied by the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, conducted by Lev Markiz. Given what a used copy of this record fetches on the used market, you are getting your money’s worth for this piece alone.
The wonderful first piano trio is also included, in another BIS recording. I found this performance somewhat disappointing because the string tone is a bit rough, and during the outer movements, the strings overpower the piano and the tempo drags a bit. But this is a very good performance of a great piece you will probably like enough to seek out an outstanding performance (by the likes of Trio Wanderer, Julia Fischer and friends, or my current favorite, the budget-priced Gould Trio on Naxos.)
On the negative side, we have the symphonies. If you have heard that Mendelssohn’s symphonies are inferior works, the leaden, uninspired performances of them here will not likely change your view. The exception is the First Symphony–lively enough, but in quite unacceptable boxy sound. Also, it is inexplicable why the Octet–one of Mendelssohn’s 2 or 3 greatest works–is not present. But I have multiple recordings of the Octet anyway (my favorite: Kodaly & Auer Quartets on Naxos) so I guess I am happy if excluding it made room for, say, one of the organ sonatas.
There is much here I have yet to listen to–right now I am exploring Hans Fagius’ performances of Mendelssohn’s organ music, totally unknown to me. But on the strength of the quintets and concertos alone, this was worth my couple hundred pennies. While this is not the only Mendelssohn I would ever want in my library, it’s a tremendous find and highly recommended.
Review by Spiritcat for The 99 Most Essential Mendelssohn Masterpieces (Amazon Exclusive)
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After having some sound quality issues with the large collections, I am happy with this one. A good selection of Mendelssohn with the favorite pieces represented. At the price of $1.99 you can’t beat it. If you are new to classical it is a great introduction to Mendelssohn and if you already have a collection, this is a good one-source compilation. Download and enjoy!
Review by DEL O for Sounds of Kauai
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From the first track I was laying on the Beach in Hawaii,,
So soothing and natural mix of guitars and nature.. Surf, streams, waterfalls…Altho i was receiving a massage I was already thinking of just sitting on the lanai and reading a book with no hurries or worries..
Certainly replaces some of my “old music”
DEL O.
Review by Truth Seeker for Sounds of Kauai
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I own and have listened to many CD’s for massage over the years and this is my new favorite. It’s so nice to have a CD that is not the same ole boring massage music. The guitar sounds are very nice with a hint of ocean sounds in some of the background songs. I recommend this to therapists that like to be inspired by music while giving a massage.
Review by C. Ellis for Sounds of Kauai
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After returning from a long overdue vacation in Kauai, I ordered this CD. I have listened to this many times and love the soft guitars and sounds of the ocean. Every night during vacation I was rocked to sleep by the sound of the ocean. This CD takes me back to my vacation frame of mind. Very relaxing and renewing.
Review by E. Douglas for Sounds of Kauai
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This is one of the best music/ocean medleys I have ever heard. I have been to that Island and it does remind me of sitting on the beach at night with a cool ocean breeze drifting in.
Having sleep problems? “this will relax you more than you can imagine!” (knocks kids out too!, haha. They LOVE IT! with a cool colorful nightlight on the ceiling and this cd, your good do go! and can put a whole slumber party to sleep within half hour!
Review by Nosloptrainman for Sounds of Kauai
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I have been to Kauai.
This music takes me right back there.
The “sounds of Kauai” just make it that much better.
As stated in my title above this truly is one SIMPLY AWESOME CD.
I will enjoy and remember this for a long, long time to come.
Enjoy!