Mendelssohn Siblings Together Again

Isata Kanneh-Mason on the cover of her latest album (courtesy of Crossover Media)

Every now and then, one or more musicians decide to prepare a recording which presents works composed by both Mendelssohn’s siblings, the better-known Felix and his sister Fanny. One week from today will see the latest release in this enterprise. The title of the latest solo recording by pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason is entitled simply Mendelssohn; and, for those who cannot wait, Amazon.com has already prepared a Web page for processing pre-orders. As might be guessed, the first eight tracks devoted to Felix have a duration that is more than twice the duration allotted to Fanny.

Each of the siblings is allotted one multi-movement composition, and these serve as the “bookends” for the entire album. The opening selection is Felix’ MWV 07, his Opus 25 (first) piano concerto in G minor. Kanneh-Mason performs with the London Mozart Players led by Jonathan Bloxham. The album then concludes with Fanny’s H. 235 four-movement “Easter Sonata” (Ostersonate) which will probably be a “first contact” experience for most listeners. This was not published during the composer’s lifetime. Indeed, the manuscript was lost for 150 years; and, when it was found, it was attributed to Felix! Sadly, the booklet notes by Claire Jackson devote only the last three paragraphs to Fanny, overlooking, among other insights, the matter of mistaken attribution of the “Easter Sonata.”

From an arithmetic point of view, I feel it is worth noting that Felix is allocated more than twice as much time as is filled by the five tracks of Fanny’s music. I would also suspect that those that frequently attend piano recitals will probably be familiar with all of the “Felix tracks,” including those involving arrangements by Franz Liszt, Moritz Moszkowski, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Personally, I would prefer to spend more time with albums of Fanny without a coupling to Felix. Put another way, there is more to be gained by side-by-side listening of Fanny with another contemporary, Clara Schumann! Those willing to make an Amazon search will be pleasantly surprised by what they find.