Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Symphony No. 1 [35:13]
Symphony No. 4 “Italian” [26:58]
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)
rec. live, The Barbican, London, February 2016 (No. 1) & March 2014 (No. 4)
BD-A & SACD included in the package
LSO LIVE LSO0769 [62:11]
I’ve really enjoyed Gardiner’s London Mendelssohn
series
so far, and this instalment confirms its quality with two exciting, dynamic
and agile symphony performers.
The energy of the opening of No. 1 is explosive, redolent with the energy
of youth (astonishingly, the composer was only 14 when he wrote it!). The
lack of string vibrato, which has been a constant in Gardiner’s LSO
cycle, gives it a wiry energy and restlessness that reminds you of the Sturm
und Drang, and even the more sweetly played second subject is subsumed
into the general turbulence of the argument. However, the slow movement shows
that Gardiner can still make the strings sound remarkably warm when he needs
to. The violas, in particular, sound marvellously sinuous at the three-minute
mark, and the violins then follow them brilliantly. The choir of winds at
the start of the recapitulation sounds super too.
As a bonus, Gardiner gives us two versions of the third movement.
Mendelssohn originally wrote a Menuetto that he became disillusioned with
and, when giving the work’s London premiere in 1829, he substituted
for it an orchestration of the Scherzo from his Octet. We hear both, and both
are worth hearing. The Scherzo is a little more than an amplification, because
the wind writing is an important addition, and it’s a tribute to the
LSO strings that they manage to sound as skittish and playful as they do for
a full-sized band. The Menuetto lollops a bit, but it is played with great
energy by the strings, and the lolloping comes into its own in the thumping
coda. The Trio, by contrast, is very different; still, with beautifully sweet
winds. The finale has a dash and urgency that reminded me of Schubert’s
Fourth Symphony, and the fugal sections of the development and coda remind
you of Mendelssohn’s place in the canon of German composers, as well
as prefiguring his rediscovery of Bach. The movement, like the rest of the
symphony, is played with stripped-back vigour and sounds brilliant. The symphony
definitely bears the hallmarks of a youthful work – the ending is clunky
and a little tacked-on, for one thing – but it’s still a serious
and proper work when it’s treated as well as it is here. It bears repetition:
he was only 14 when he wrote it! Could even Mozart have achieved such a feat
at that age?...
The much more familiar Italian symphony is every bit as fine. The
symphony’s opening crack takes off delightfully before violins soar
forth into the main theme. It’s a delight, and it was here that I most
appreciated the surround sound benefits that the BD brings. The fugal episodes
are very precise and utterly on-the-note, and the coda is joyous. The
Andante is truly con moto, as well it should be, and the major key
section is more optimistic but purposely not particularly transformative.
It dies away beautifully at the end. The Menuetto moves at a fair pace, but
this is only a curtain-raiser for the most exciting account of the finale
I've heard in a very long time. The beginning explodes out of
the starting block and doesn’t once let up the pace. Tarantella
and Saltarello weave together fabulously and the ending is clipped, precise
and thrilling. This disc is definitely worth exploring, even for those
who aren’t already collecting Gardiner’s cycle.
Simon Thompson
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