Mendelssohn

Abstract

On one side the overture; on the other, Scherzo, Nocturne and Wedding March. Expert, cleanly articulated performances, perhaps a shade brisk and virile at times, but this is a good fault, and the playing is mostly superb. The development section of the overture sounds as magical as it should, with all the queer unearthly night noises exactly calculated—and what a marvellous piece of composing. By the second episode in the Wedding March I found myself wondering if I had ever heard the thing thus far before, it all sounded so unfamiliar. The scherzo is especially well played, with wonderful precision from the woodwind. The horn is pushed along at a rather undream-like tempo in the Nocturne, but at the end of the overture Szell relaxes and the final violin phrases float magically over Theseus's sleeping palace. The recorded quality is outstanding, and altogether this is a very good disc. R.F.