Felix Mendelssohn
The two best things about Simon Rattle’s new recording of Die Walküre are, well, Rattle, himself, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; a strongly played and majestically sung performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s unfairly neglected Die erste Walpurgisnacht.
After the “Lobgesang”’s premiere, Robert Schumann declared this movement “a glimpse of heaven filled with Raphael’s madonnas,” and Saturday’s performance by the BSO came about as close to that as one could imagine, sensitively phrased and beautifully blended.
Rethinking the Repertoire #6: Felix Mendelssohn’s “Die erste Walpurgisnacht”
Felix Mendelssohn remains one of the West’s most underrated composers.
Read More about Rethinking the Repertoire #6: Felix Mendelssohn’s “Die erste Walpurgisnacht”