Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto & “Reformation” Symphony

Harmonia Mundi

The danger with a piece as familiar as Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto is its very familiarity. Any attempt to do something different will initially cause some mental unrest. Take the scooping portamenti that soloist Isabelle Faust plays freely with, most unconventionally in the slow movement – the result of some consultation on performance traits of the time. Her approach is apparently authentic, as is the thinning down of the vibrato, and the clean, raw edged period instrument style of the accompanying Freiburg Barockorchester under the baton of Pablo Heras-casado. Let the ears attune and this period reboot is truly electrifying, void of sentimentality, but full of rich musicality. Similarly, Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture enjoys an appropriately rugged finesse in the Freiburgers’ hands. There follows a glorious performance of the Reformation Symphony, Mendelssohn’s 5th.