Mendelssohn: Symphonies; Overtures; Concertos [Box set]

At last Claus Peter Flor's Mendelssohn symphonies, overtures and piano concertos (with Edelmann) have returned. On the basis of these recordings (all previously issued) Flor, who is probably in his early 50s now, is still one of the better Mendelssohn conductors out there.

In particular, his Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 have been hailed by critics on this side of the Atlantic for their beauty, proportion and Mendelssohnian sensibility. His other symphonies are also good and his collected overtures have been revered on both sides of the Atlantic by critics from Gramophone (which gave the overtures a rosette) to American Record Guide (which continued to promote his works even after they were out of print).

Flor's regualr partner in these performances, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, is a European band of the second rank. While not being confused with the more well-known orchestras in Vienna, Berlin or London, they perform universally well in these CDs in recordings that sound better than ever.

This is a very good collection of Mendelssohn's symphonic music and piano concertos that will rank with the best recorded boxes including Abbado and Karajn. In musical terms is far exceeds the collections led by Masur, Ashkenazy and the newer Naxos cycle of mixed quality.

Collectors that have never heard Flor conduct (or have never heard of him) can rest assured that this is a worthy alternative collection in this music. If this grouping and this price are attractive, go for it.

There's so staggeringly much music in this big box that if you manage to play or even read through all the titles, you'll be surprised to notice one or two puzzling omissions: for one thing, one of Mendelssohn's most popular overtures, The Fair Melusina. Also, in his overview of the overtures, Abbado adds the sparkling Overture for Wind Music written by the teenage Mendelssohn. That would have been nice as well (but then Flor comes up with the Die Hochzeit des Comacho Overture from Mendelssohn's unsung opera of the same name). And maybe we could do without "Leise zieht durch mein Gemüt," orchestrations by Siegfried Matthus of seven songs and Songs without Words--not that the orchestrations aren't tasteful or apposite. But how can one gainsay a collection that amasses just about every jot and tittle of notation that Mendelssohn committed to paper for orchestral forces--and does it all very, very well?

First, the symphonies: Among complete versions, major competition comes from Abbado (which I know) and Ashkenazy. Flor offers fully the equal of Abbado's celebrated traversal, I believe. The Third and Fourth, central to the canon, are given top-notch, finely recorded treatment, while the Second, just as well done as by Abbado, is better recorded; there is no breakup of sound as I experience in those big climaxes in the Abbado set.

The First Symphony, too, is given a smart and sprightly reading. Maybe only in the Fifth Symphony, not a make-or-break item anyway, is there some slight overemphasis in the stentorian last movement, some unnecessary decelerando and other species of uncalled for rubato. Here, such affectations are slight, but they are accentuated in the Ruy Blas Overture. Most conductors supply a slight accelerando in the bright coda that crowns this work. Instead, Claus Peter Flor slows down. Why? What's gained? Zip, unfortunately.

It's then that you start noting other slight instances of intervention that aren't exactly called for--finicky phrasing in the first movement of the Italian Symphony, a tendency to hold back in the First Piano Concertos when the soloist, Sergei Edelman, seems to champ at the bit. (There's much more unanimity of approach in the Second Concerto and the two Violin Concertos, and these are fine performances, I think, whereas I can't recommend the First Piano Concertos when Hough and Thibaudet have such a perfect handle on this slight but appealing work.)

On the other hand, I have never heard so exciting a performance of Mendelssohn's most visionary choral work, Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, and I have no complaints whatever about A Midsummer Night's Dream either. With Lucia Popp in radiant form and fairy spirits clearly abroad in the air, how could one?

So if I have reservations--and I do, including the sound, which is consistently very fine but more resonant than would be the norm in recording these works today--they are slight given the many rewards awaiting anyone who plunges into this inexpensive box of goodies.

After listening to four other recordings of Mendelssohn's 2nd Symphony, the Lobesgesang, a longtime favorite of mine, I was delighted to, as it happened, stumble across this performance. After some disappointment in the recording of this work that I had seen receive the best reviews (although it was indeed the best of the four I had heard), Flor's deep connection to this piece came through in the unity of conception throughout the performance, giving the clearest sense that he, too, is a real singer. He chose outstanding soloists, who work together in the greatest of harmony, while he directs the chorus as well as the orchestra, as I said, like a singer. I could mention any number of places where his sensitive and thoughtful phrasing, pause, or balanced in counterpoint adds to the exceptional quality of the performance. Those who know the piece will surely be moved by how he and his singers treat the wonderful ironic "H:uter, ist die Nacht bald hin?" and it's answer.

I not only bought the set of CDs for myself, but have since bought three additional ones as gifts for friends.
as a result of hearing a separately issued CD, included here, of Flor conducting the Italian Symphony. I had always disliked the piece, considering the first movement "manic." His was the first performance that sounded like music to me. Thus, the question immediately arose, "I wonder if he recorded the Second?" He did, and I recommend it as a sacred treasure.