Forbes Classical CD Of The Week: Rocking The Mendelssohn String Symphonies

...It starts with the coy, tip-toeing first movement with light but sharp attacks of the String Symphony No.7 (“Minerva”, 1822). The way the L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra under Michi Gaigg rips into that symphony’s finale with great gusto, blowing all ears before it. Here, as in the Symphonic Movement in C minor (“Symphony No.13”), the fortepiano (a reconstruction of the type that little Mendelssohn most likely used during the home performances of these works) adds a welcome, creatively expanded sonority. Or the Andante of Symphony No.12 (1823) is of a sensual gorgeousness that belies the youthful composer as much as it prides the orchestra...

-> Classical CD Of The Week: Rocking The Mendelssohn String Symphonies

Felix Mendelssohn B., String Symphonies v.2, L’Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg, CPO