Customer Reviews

Mendelssohn: Octet / Quintet

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
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I have listened to this recording for years (I had it on vinyl, back in the old days). IMO it is the definitive recording of the Octet.
Given Ms. Brown's recent (6/10/2004) death to cancer, if you are on the fence about purchasing this recording, do it now, while it is still in print. I, for one, will never be without my copy of this performance. It is thrilling, full of energy and drive, but with lovely and touching moments, as well.

This recording dates from 1978,but the quality of sound is very good. Mendelssohn's octet is for strings, and along with his 'Overture To A Midsummer Night's Dream', was written when he was a teenager. It is a work full of melody and freshness, a basic part of chamber music repertoire.

The performance is excellent, and a bonus of a string quintett is included. Recommended!

spent all evening listening to samples from all the available recordings of the octet, and settled definitively on this one. i was a bit concerned that the andante melody might come off a bit anemic and unsustained compared to L'Archibudelli or Hausmusik, but the tightness of ensemble and extreme clarity of sound (especially in the quicker movements, of course) totally won me over. for a chamber ensemble of this size, clarity is so critical to avoid a muddy texture, and this recording really allows the light brilliance to come through, and they're so ON! impeccable rhythm, wonderful acoustic, great audio fidelity, and stylistically, the individuals' sounds are wonderfully matched and cohesive. very happy with my decision.

the only difficulty was deciding whether to buy this album, or the same recording off the deutsche grammophon album (the two-disc one that has symphony 4 and the violin concerto along with a few other things including this). i kinda liked the sound (mastering?) better on the samples from the deutsche grammophon website (where you can buy the individual tracks for download), but it was hard to tell for sure (though i am quite confident that they're the same recorded performance--not sure how it managed to wind up on two different labels). anyway, i decided i wanted the quintet too, so i chose this one, and as i said am very happy.

What a delight to hear this music played with such excitement; that combined with careful musicianship makes this CD a joy for the listener.

It appears this recording was made in 1979, a year before Iona Brown formally left that organization. Ms. Brown had been appointed the Artistic Director of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1974 by Sir Neville Marriner and served as first violinist in both works.

The Octet is deservedly praised as a truly remarkable musical achievement and is all the more amazing when one considers it was written by a 16 year old boy as a birthday present for his violin teacher. The Quintet was written later in the sadly short life of Felix Mendelssohn at the age of 36; only two years before his untimely death.

The audio quality of the disc is generally satisfactory with one small exception; there is a very low frequency rumbling present throughout the Octet and into the first movement of the Quintet. By the second movement of the Quintet it is significantly reduced and seems to have largely disappeared in the third and fourth movements. Once it has been identified it is fairly easy to overlook. If the frequency response of your music system was not designed with the pipe organ in mind you may never notice it.

All told two joyous performances of Mendelssohn's chamber music.

Or at least as close to perfection as you can get with any of the recordings that're out there.... I now own quite a few different versions of the Mendelssohn Octet - this is by far the best. The Quintet No. 2 is also lovely - beautifully played here. Recording quality is excellent, even though this is now over 30 years old.

Yes to all the other reviewers! The Academy Chamber Ensemble surpassed all others in their rich textures, unison, and warmth in this recording. Buy it before it goes out of print!

as a cello player i think it's a great cd