Episodes
Series | Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
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2009 | 01 | 20090504 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies whose lives took very different paths, but whose music had much in common. The programme focuses on their early years, with the two both growing up in each other's pockets - with the same teachers and the same musical influences. While Fanny was often described as the better pianist of the two, that would change when the 12-year-old Felix was invited to go and play for Goethe, while Fanny was left behind. It marked the first major step in her exclusion from the musical limelight into which Felix was about to step. Fanny Mendelssohn: Suleika und Hatem Sophie Daneman (soprano) Mark Padmore (tenor) Eugene Asti (piano) Hyperion CDA67388, Tr 12 Duration: 2m23s Mendelssohn: String symphony No 3 in E minor Hanover Band Roy Goodman (conductor) RCA 09026 68069 2 CD1 Trs 7-9 Duration: 9m11s Mendelssohn: Double Piano Concerto in E (3rd mvt) Roland Pontinen, Love Derwinger (pianos) Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam Lev Markiz (conductor) BIS CD-688, Tr 3 Duration: 7m50s Mendelssohn: Piano Quartet in B minor, Op 3 (1st mvt) Domus Virgin Classics VC7911832 Duration: 8m48s Mendelssohn: Pilgerspruch, Op 8 No 5 Fanny Mendelssohn: Das Heimweh, Op 8 No 2 Stephan Loges (baritone) Hyperion CDA67388, Trs 23 and 15 Durations: 2m17s, 2m17s Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (for piano duet) Duo Egri and Pertis Hungaroton HCD 32410, Tr 53 Duration: 11m23s. Donald Macleod focuses on Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn's early years. |
2009 | 02 | 20090505 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies whose lives took very different paths, but whose music had much in common. The programme looks at the launch of Felix's career with his famous Octet, which was composed in 1825. Fanny's composing and playing, on the other hand, was limited to amateur music-making in soirees held at the family home. Including a group of Fanny's songs published under Felix's name, a string quartet inspired by a love song, two works written for Fanny's birthday and an excerpt from the operetta Felix wrote for his parents' silver wedding anniversary. Fanny Mendelssohn: Ferne (Felix's Op 9 No 2); Der Rosenkranz (Felix's Op 9 No 3); Die fruhen Graber (Felix's Op 9 No 4) Susan Gritton (soprano) Eugene Asti (piano) Hyperion CDA67110, Trs 3-5 Durations: 2m23s, 2m35s, 3m32s Mendelssohn: Frage, Op 9 No 1 Margaret Price (soprano) Graham Johnson (piano) Hyperion CDA 66666, Tr 2 Duration: 1m27s Mendelssohn: String Quartet No 2 in A minor, Op 13 (1st mvt) Emerson String Quartet DG 477 5370 CD1 Duration: 7m35s Mendelssohn: Hora Est Chamber Choir of Europe Nicol Matt (conductor) Brilliant Classics 99997 CD6, Tr 1 Duration 8m46s Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte, Op 19, No 5 Luba Edlina (piano) Chandos 89489 Tr 5 Duration: 3m58s Mendelssohn: Heimkehr aus de Fremde (excerpt) Lisbeth - Helen Donath (soprano) Mother - Hanna Schwarz (mezzo-soprano) Hermann - Peter Schreier (tenor) Kauz - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (bass-baritone) Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks Munchner Rundfunkorchester Heinz Wallberg (conductor) CPO 9995552 Trs 20-26 Duration: 13m14s. Focusing on the launch of Mendelssohn's career and the different path that his sister took |
2009 | 03 | 20090506 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies whose lives took very different paths, but whose music had much in common. He concentrates on Felix's growing popularity as he receives his first commissions following his grand tour, contrasting it with his sister's adaptation to married life. She starts her own salon in the Mendelssohn family home, where she can play and conduct her own works. Including one of those commissioned works which became known as the Italian Symphony, a cantata premiered at Fanny's musical evenings, plus the last major work she would write for many years to come. Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Op 19 No 6 Luba Edlina (piano) Chandos CHAN 89489, CD1 Tr 6 Duration: 2m18s Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Op 30 No 2 Chandos CHAN 89489, Tr 8 Duration: 2m13s Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat Erato Quartett Basel CPO 999 679-2 Trs 1-4 Duration: 19m47s Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony (1st mvt) Philharmonia Orchestra Walter Weller (conductor) Chandos CHAN 10224(3) X, CD3 Tr 1 Duration: 10m38s Mendelssohn: Die Erste Walpurgisnacht (excerpt) Eberhard Buchner (tenor) Siegfried Lorenz (baritone) Siegfried Vogel (bass) Rundfunkchor Leipzig Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Kurt Masur (conductor) Berlin Classics BC 2057-2, Trs 8-11 Duration: 11m56s. Donald Macleod contrasts Felix's growing popularity with Fanny's adaptation to marriage. |
2009 | 04 | 20090507 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies whose lives took very different paths, but whose music had much in common. He examines how Felix had become a hugely popular figure in England and Germany and, with the publication of his oratorio St Paul, how his fame spread across the world. Six months into his job as Leipzig Gewandhaus director, he then met his future wife. Meanwhile, Fanny continued to occupy herself with her popular musical soirees, and when the opportunity arose for her to spend a year in Italy, she finally received the recognition for her musical talents she had always craved. Featuring two of Fanny's most important compositions inspired by her trip, two works by Felix written following his marriage and a group of songs written expressly to sing out of doors. Mendelssohn: St Paul (excerpt from Part 1) Gundula Janowitz (soprano) Hans Peter Blochwitz (tenor) Paul - Theo Adam (bass) Rundfunkchor Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Kurt Masur (conductor) Philips 420 801-2, CD1 Trs 19-20 Duration: 5m52s Mendelssohn: Sechs Gesange, Op 34, Nos 2,3, 4 Margaret Price (soprano) Graham Johnson (piano) Hyperion CDA66666, Trs 8-10 Duration: 8m41s Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No 2 Stephen Hough (piano) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Lawrence Foster (conductor) Hyperion CDA66969 Duration: 21m2s Fanny Mendelssohn: Das Jahr (excerpt) Lauma Skride (piano) Sony BMG 88697030162, Tr 12 Duration: 4m28s Mendelssohn: Sechs Lieder in Freien zu singen, Op 48 Nos 2, 3, 4 Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay (conductor) Globe GLO5075, Trs 23-25 Duration: 4m15s. Focusing on Felix's appointment as Leipzig Gewandhaus director and Fanny's belated success |
2009 | 05 LAST | 20090508 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies whose lives took very different paths, but whose music had much in common. He examines the final years of Felix's life, when he struggled to divide his time between professional engagements across Europe and his rapidly expanding family and composing. By 1846, when Fanny finally summoned the courage, without Felix's support, to go ahead and publish her music, she only had a year to live, and Felix couldn't cope with the devastating loss. Within a matter of months he, too, was dead. Featuring one of Felix's most important sacred works: the string quartet written in the months after Fanny's death and one of his sister's most significant chamber works, written shortly before she died. Mendelssohn: Sechs Spruche, Op 79 Nos 1, 4, 5, 6 Christine Barratt (soprano) Joya Logan (contralto) Kenneth Roles (bass) Corydon Singers Matthew Best (conductor) Helios CDH55268, Trs 7, 10-12 Duration: 6m49s Mendelssohn: Athalia Overture Bamberg Symphony Orchestra Claus Peter Flor (conductor) RCA RD 87905, Tr 5 Duration: 8m27s Fanny Mendelssohn: Piano Trio (1st mvt) Dartington Piano Trio Hyperion CDA66331, Tr 5 Duration: 10m52s Mendelssohn: Lauda Sion (Nos 4, 5, 6) Isabell Muller-Cant (soprano) Eibe Mohlmann (contralto) Daniel Sans (tenor) Philip Niederberger (bass) Chamber Choir of Europe Wurtembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen Nicol Matt (conductor) Brilliant Classics 99997, CD4 Trs 10-12 Duration: 8m9s Mendelssohn: String Quartet No 6 in F minor, Op 80 (4th mvt) Emerson String Quartet DG 477 5370, CD3 Tr 9 Duration: 5m23s Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Op 67 No 6 Luba Edlina (piano) Chandos CHAN 8948/9, CD2 Tr 12 Duration: 2m38s. Donald Macleod explores the final years of the Mendelssohns' lives. |