CCMusic.com

The four-hand versions of orchestral works by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy recorded here by Sontraud Speidel and Franziska Lee are all by the composer himself and correspond to the musical text of the respective first editions published during Mendelssohn's lifetime, with the sole exception of the overture to the early Singspiel Soldatenliebschaft, whose first publication as part of the Mendelssohn Complete Edition appeared with so many printing errors that a correction was urgently required. This was done by Sontraud Speidel and the Karlsruhe music researcher Dr Joachim Draheim. The five works span a period of 22 years, presenting interesting examples of little-known music for the operatic stage and the Overture op. 24, unfortunately almost never heard, with two famous compositions from Mendelssohn's mature years, both of which were inspired by the profound impressions of the journey to Scotland (summer 1829).