This is an intriguing and, in my opinion, highly successful
release. Mendelssohn’s youthful masterpiece, the Octet
in E flat major for strings, Op. 20, has been recorded too
many times to mention, but this recording gives us an excuse
to buy it all over again. There is a tradition of performing
the piece through the conjoining of two more or less established
string quartets, though a glance at the catalogue shows plenty
of chamber music ensembles pared down from larger orchestras
or specialist chamber groups who have recorded the piece. The
‘string project’ recorded listings already have
a top recommendation by the Emerson
Quartet, but this has essential differences to the release
at hand. While not accusing other ensembles of lack of sensitivity
to Mendelssohn’s idiom, the members of I solisti Filarmonici
Italiani approach this music very much with ‘period performance’
in mind, working forward from experience as musicians in the
field of baroque music and using instruments with gut rather
than metal strings. This is by no means an over-sanitised ‘early
music’ performance of the Octet however, and while
there is some restraint in terms of vibrato, the playing is
more typically red-blooded and full of the high spirits this
music demands.
I have to say I do quite like the effect this ensemble brings
to this music. The opening has a rousing character which makes
you want to carry on listening, and by and large the rewards
and returns are equal to this promising start. The irrepressible
energy of the opening movement is reined in by soulful moods
in the Andante, given plenty of expression in this recording
without laying on the sentiment with a trowel. The Allegro
leggierissimo also works well, with a nice layering of sustained
notes without vibrato a tonal halo around the thematic banter
from the rest of the players. The articulation can be a bit
scratchy here and there, and this is something which is a bit
of a blemish with the final Presto. In this case the
busy notes of the opening cellos are less distinct than I’ve
heard elsewhere, though the high-octane pace is compelling and
attractive most of the time. With a somewhat dry acoustic, in
the end this recording doesn’t quite top the sensitivity
of touch and transparency which can be found on that of another
recording for which I have a good deal of affection, that with
ensemble Hausmusik on the Virgin Veritas label. It doesn’t
miss the mark by very much however, and if the ‘period’
approach attracts then this recording is unlikely to disappoint.
With the added sonority of a double-bass and the sparkle of
a piano, the Sextet Op.110 is an entirely different prospect,
though written a year before the Octet and when the composer
was only 15 years old. Here, the period approach is compromised
somewhat by the use of a Steinway from 1928 rather than a replica
of an instrument contemporary with Mendelssohn’s time.
This is a fine sounding instrument however, and does have a
more sympathetic singing tone than you would be likely to find
with a later model. The piano blends well with the string sonorities,
and the chamber-music feel of the piece - the interaction of
equal instruments rather than a concerto-like soloist-accompaniment
relationship is nicely balanced in this case.
Looking at a release on the Delos label with this identical
coupling of works performed by the Lincoln
Center Chamber Music Society the differences between this
and what might be called a ‘period’ performance
become clearer, and with the subtle little string inflections
of a movement such as the Menuetto less encumbered with
wide vibrato. I do like the transparency of the Lincoln Center
recording however, and honours are even with this movement’s
Schubertesque ‘trout’ gestures from the piano and
in many other crucial little moments.
The rather marginal differences in performance style between
quoted references and other favourite recordings are ones which
allow this fine CPO recording to exist and thrive alongside
these established releases, and its inherent high quality makes
it recommendable in its own right.
Dominy Clements
I solisti Filarmonici Italiani 
