Hyperion Records

The opening tutti of the E major Concerto uncovers a vein of dream-like contentment which was to become Mendelssohn’s expressive trademark. Virtually every subsequent composition contains passages of this nature contrasted, as here, by fleet-footed music of quicksilver brilliance. Even the use of Mozartian falling chromaticisms fails to cloud the blissfully trouble-free outlook.

The central 6/8 Adagio anticipates Mendelssohn’s favourite arioso Lieder ohne Worte style, whilst the high velocity finale demonstrates the composer’s precocious ability to assimilate Hummelian semiquaver athletics, and organize them into a convincing (if not yet fully developed) structure, transcending the aimless note-spinning of many of his older contemporaries.

from notes by Julian Haylock © 1992