Arnold Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2 and Violin Concerto

[Justin]

I will agree with Tapiola on this. The last movement of the symphony in particular sounds academic and I don't think I will revisit these works.

[terry martyn]

I am waiting until these works appear on YouTube before deciding.  I fear that they will sound facile to me. Having had my fingers burnt recently with the Koessler (there was no let-up there), I don't want to waste my money when the Reichel, the Arthur Foote, and the Kashperova are just round the corner.

[Justin]

Terry, they should already be on YouTube. Look for Arnold Mendelssohn and uploads from the past month.

[Droosbury]

They are – here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bBd7CUVGlw&list=OLAK5uy_kRWpxA4gRR1Mp1hm1AlsPshVjB7RBXYts&index=2

Not anything particularly exciting, I feel, but certainly nothing to frighten you, I hope!

[Ilja]

Just listened to both works and... my first impressions are not properly positive. Whilst well-written, pleasant and bouncy, it's too generic for the most part. Some good themes or melodies on both pieces were largely missed. I wonder how CPO chooses the repertoire to be recorded, because these works deserve oblivion from my personal perspective, honestly. Sorry if I'm harsh.

The choice of repertoire isn't necessarily made by CPO itself alone; it can be the result of amibitions by the orchestras or musicians they work with, with a foundation willing to finance a forgotten work, or some other reason. A good example is the recent Grimm symphony, initiated by Golo Berg and the Münster orchestra, who wanted to celebrate a local hero.

But while certainly not everything they've released is brilliant, the end result has been that our understanding of the German romantic musical landscape has been enriched tremendously. Let them continue. Could be a bit quicker after recording every now and then, perhaps.

[Gareth Vaughan]

...our understanding of the German romantic musical landscape has been enriched tremendously.

Spot on, Ilja. For that reason alone I relish their offerings; they have supplied us with numerous recordings of unsung composers over the years (and continue to do so) for which I, for one, am hugely grateful.

[terry martyn]

Very short-winded ,episodic,fare, I'm afraid. The horses aren't frightened, but hardly galvanised into life. He could have done with studying how Carl Nielsen used his material.

[Justin]

Spot on, Ilja. For that reason alone I relish their offerings; they have supplied us with numerous recordings of unsung composers over the years (and continue to do so) for which I, for one, am hugely grateful.

Yes and I always welcome a new release from them. An interesting or uninteresting composer doesn't affect my gratitude to the label for digging up all of these works and recording them in great sound.

[eschiss1]

As to his being an interesting or uninteresting composer, an earlier cpo disc of two works for string quartet, works that he actually did choose to have published (and were accepted for publication)- though I haven't heard that either, yet - may be more representative, as may Cantate and Hanssler Classic recordings of his piano works and some of his choral music. (Some of his other chamber works, like a trio, are up on YouTube- this particular work was also recorded along with Huber's 2-violin and piano sonata on Acte Préalable in 2007.) This is hardly his first exposure to the air, in any case...

[terry martyn]

By the way, I must apologise to Droosbury and Justin for forgetting my manners.  Thank you both for directing me to the YouTube link.