Gramophone Magazine
May 2019
Editor's Choice

Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)

Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11
Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40
Mendelssohn: The Fair Melusine Overture, Op. 32

Mendelssohn’s first symphonic work scored for full orchestra, the Symphony op. 11 in C minor paved the way for even greater examples of the genre he was soon to produce. The concert overture Die schöne Melusine and the sparkling Piano Concerto No. 2 rely on the type of orchestration and harmonic language which are best served when played on period instruments, as heard here. Devoid of the atmosphere of Romantic doom and gloom, nearly every page of both scores is marked by an exuberant cheerfulness, youthful drive, and irrepressible energy.

"Bezuidenhout’s instrument is an echt Érard…It’s capable of a wide range of colours and dynamics [Bezuidenhout is] as happy to allow his passagework to rumble away within the body of the orchestra as he is to muse on more lyrical sections…The Freiburgers are on fine form, too, under Pablo Heras-Casado…The string sound, bleached of vibrato, contrasts vibrantly with the warmth of the winds." - Gramophone Magazine, May 2019.