Mendelssohn and Friends

Programme

“This is Italy!… And I am loving it… thank you, dear parents, for having given me all this happiness”: The European tour Mendelssohn took in his early twenties was a rich source of inspiration.

One of its many musical fruits was the Italian symphony, full of southern warmth and exuberance.

Weber’s opera Oberon (another influence on the young Mendelssohn) premiered at Covent Garden in 1826, and it was a triumph.The story features familiar characters such as Titania and Puck, but also mermaids, pirates, and the Caliph of Baghdad. The overture begins with the mysterious call of a distant horn, which is revealed later in the opera to have magical powers.

Mendelssohn conducted several early performances of Robert Schumann’s beloved Piano Concerto, with Clara Schumann as the soloist. And Clara summed up its appeal: “how rich in invention, how interesting from the beginning to the end, how fresh and what a beautifully coherent whole.” Pianist and orchestra are collaborators rather than rivals in this concerto – a role well-suited to soloist Sunwook Kim, renowned for the natural ease of his playing.