Fanny Mendelssohn • Felix Mendelssohn

Fanny Mendelssohn: Fantasia in G minor; Capriccio in A flat; Felix Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata No. 1 in B flat, Op.45; Cello Sonata No. 2 in D, Op. 58; Variations concertantes, Op. 17; Lied ohne Worte, Op. 109; Albumblatt in B minor

Johannes Moser (cello),

Alasdair Beatson (piano)

Pentatone PTC 5186 781 75:45 mins Mendelssohn’s two cello sonatas are the most important works of their kind between Beethoven and Brahms. Of the pair, it’s the D major Second Sonata that has generally attracted more attention, but the earlier B flat work, dedicated to Mendelssohn’s cello-playing brother Paul, is full of incidental beauties: the impulsive way the opening movement’s second subject comes bursting in; the radiant change from minor to major for the melancholy slow movement’s middle section; and the gentle witticism of the finale which has its main theme return from a different harmonic direction each time, with the music still modulating during the opening phrases of the theme itself. The D major Sonata is more brilliant and extrovert, and its impulsive first movement is like an offshoot of the urgent beginning of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony. The slow movement carries out an interesting experiment which sees a sustained chorale melody combined with a much freer recitative.

Of the two pieces by Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny included here, perhaps the more striking is the Capriccio in A flat.

Its middle section erupts into an agitated interlude whose mood could not hardly have been anticipated from the music’s innocent beginning.

Johannes Moser and Alasdair Beatson offer fine, full-blooded performances of all this repertoire. Beatson uses an Érard piano from 1837 – just a year before Mendelssohn composed his

D major sonata – allowing for maximum clarity and lightness in rapid passagework, as well as an ideal balance between the two instruments. Altogether, a fine achievement, well recorded. Misha Donat

PERFORMANCE ★★★★

RECORDING ★★★★