Customer Reviews

Mendelssohn: Overtures

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'll admit, I'm a huge Abbado fan and a pretty good
Mendelssohn fan as well. So when I saw this CD for sale I
snatched it up quickly because of the rarity of most of
the overtures. I wasn't dissapointed at all! The sound
is great and the performances are wonderful. Despite what
the other reviewer said, it is playable on a "normal CD
player", and it is a disc that shouldn't be passed up
if you're an Abbado fan like myself!!

Mendelssohn himself never fails to please, and this set of overtures by the London Symphony under the baton of Claudio Abbado is delightful. I particularly liked the "Fair Melusine" overture, partly because Mendelssohn wrote it in a fit of pique brought on by seeing a bad production of the play, but also because of the water figures which very much evoke the Rhine leitmotif in "The Ring of the Niebelungen," years before Wagner wrote "Das Rhinegold." Hmmm. Buy. Listen. Enjoy.

Sharon Goldstein, writing from Los Angeles

This is the best CD to get all the overtures by Mendelssohn.
Magic and wonderful playing by Abbado and the LSO. It's a pity
that Abbado couldn't maintain these standards during his years
in Berlin.-

This release by Claudio Abbado is a complete set of overtures, some of them rarely recorded and as such,valuable for any lover of Mendelssohn. At least four of these are of exceptional beauty and much favoured by the great conductors, notably Sir Thomas Beecham who excelled in playing them.
Although the playing of the London Symphony is beyond praise, I still have some issues with this disc. Abbado is a very serious conductor, perhaps too serious for some of these works. For example Beecham's playing of Fair Melusine is light hearted,relaxed and easy going and the overture ends in beautiful pp, like a breeze. A memorable performance.
But Abbado, although thoroughly musical, drives the piece too seriously and I find the performance uninspired.
Midsummer Night is even more controversial with the breakneck speed Abbado dictates. I don't think I ever heard it played that fast. The result is very unMendelssohnian,rushed and uncomfortable. Again great credit goes to the Orchestra whose strings can cope with this tempo in steady pp!
Abbado however does create some great moments, a sense of mystery in the development section with the faraway accented wind calls.
The Hebrides is beautifully done with capturing the undulating wave motion
right at the outset and elucidating all the contrasting moods of this, the best of Mendelssohn's overtures.
I must admit I downloaded this disc in MP3 format from DG webshop and I am not happy with the sound. It's either nearly inaudible or uncomfortably
earpiercingly loud. It would be interesting to hear it in a commercial (store bought) version.
To sum up: Abbado certainly overwhelms me in Rossini, Verdi, Beethoven and Mahler, but here unfortunately not completely.

THIS CD is not playable on normal CD players; it is made for "Super Audio" ONLY. No warning of this is indicated on the Amazon listing.