Mendelssohn: String Quintets
Bartholdy Quintett
The performers dig into those qualities for all they’re worth. They don’t play it safe, but step on the gas and risk high rewards at high speed when appropriate...There’s a strong sense of unified...
Mendelssohn: String Quintets
Bartholdy Quintett
Purchase product
The performers dig into those qualities for all they’re worth. They don’t play it safe, but step on the gas and risk high rewards at high speed when appropriate...There’s a strong sense of unified...
About
This album featuring string quintets by Mendelssohn is the second from the Bartholdy Quintett on the CAvi-music label, following their first album of works by Bruckner and Zemlinsky released in 2016.
Personal notes by the artists
In February 2009, on a date very close to the celebration of Mendelssohn's 200th birthday, we got together for the first time in a quintet lineup in order to perform a small concert in the form of a public rehearsal. The repertoire was rapidly chosen: it had to include at least one piece by Mendelssohn. After that successful experiment, we spontaneously decided upon the composer's second surname for our new quintet...
In Mendelssohn's case, the time between a finished composition and its subsequent publication could occasionally span several years; he frequently introduced significant changes, including cuts. The reasons for such changes are often no longer clear to us today. In certain cases it is not even clear whether Mendelssohn himself was responsible for the changes, or if they were made with his approval or not. The fundamental dilemma in working with these sources is that one has to give priority either to the autograph manuscript or to the first printed edition.
We have decided to record these works following Mendelssohn's manuscript, thereby avoiding all cuts. As an alternative, however, we have included the later version of the finale of the B Flat Major Quintet, which was possibly not altered by Mendelssohn himself, but by Julius Rietz a version which many connoisseurs will still have "in their inner ear".
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"This album offers a stirring and refreshing journey through the lights and shades of Mendelssohn's lyrical and ethereal quintets."
Contents and tracklist
- Bartholdy Quintett
- Bartholdy Quintett
Awards and reviews
September 2021
The performers dig into those qualities for all they’re worth. They don’t play it safe, but step on the gas and risk high rewards at high speed when appropriate...There’s a strong sense of unified ensemble and a pleasing shared energy, which makes for a rewarding listen…If you love Mendelssohn, it ’s pure enjoyment from start to finish.
March/April 2020
The Bartholdy Quintett dispatches this music with the requisite combination of charm and fire. Their ensemble sound is perfectly blended, and the recording captures it all with an excellent balance of direct and hall sound.
September 2021
This album offers a stirring and refreshing journey through the lights and shades of Mendelssohn’s lyrical and ethereal quintets. The Bartholdy Quintet create a characterful and engaging atmosphere.
