Mendelssohn: Octet in E flat major, Op. 20
Robin Michael (cello), Marcus Barsham-Stevens (violin), Oliver Wilson (viola), Ken Aiso (violin)
Eroica Quartet
Awards:
-
BBC Music Magazine, June 2011, Chamber Choice
Altogether it’s a splendid performance – a must for all who treasure this masterpiece
Mendelssohn: Octet in E flat major, Op. 20
Robin Michael (cello), Marcus Barsham-Stevens (violin), Oliver Wilson (viola), Ken Aiso (violin)
Eroica Quartet
Purchase product
Awards:
-
BBC Music Magazine, June 2011, Chamber Choice
Altogether it’s a splendid performance – a must for all who treasure this masterpiece
About
In their first release for the Resonus Classics label, the Eroica Quartet and Friends perform the world premiere recording of the original 1825 version of Mendelssohn’s Octet, Op. 20.
Mendelssohn wrote the Octet in 1825 when he was just 16 years old and subsequently revised the score in 1832 for publication. This recording uses the original 1825 manuscript that is currently held in the US Library of Congress in Washington D.C., and which has now been put together for publication in a new edition.
Played on period instruments and with fingerings and bowings specific to the time, the legacy and influence Mendelssohn gained from his teacher Beethoven, is clear. This edition is immensely expressive and more indulgent than the revisions penned by the more mature, older man that he was seven years later.
Contents and tracklist
- Ken Aiso, Marcus Barcham-Stevens, Oliver Wilson, Robin Michael
- Eroica Quartet
Awards and reviews
-
BBC Music MagazineJune 2011Chamber Choice
June 2011
Altogether it’s a splendid performance – a must for all who treasure this masterpiece
27th March 2011
I listened in both 24-bit studio master and MP3 formats and the quality is astonishing – too good for the standard of the playing at times but bringing all the excitement and energy of this gloriously youthful piece to life, complete with its endearing flourishes of adolescent indulgence which the more mature composer removed in his revision.
