Felix Mendelssohn: The Complete Works for Cello & Piano

JRI is pleased to announce a Bonus CD (J138A) to accompany the recent release of Mendelssohn’s Complete Works for Cello and Piano by Nancy Green and R. Larry Todd (J138). J138 includes the world premiere recording of the Mendelssohn/Josef Merk Variations in A major, with the missing cello part reconstructed by R. Larry Todd. A collaborative effort by Mendelssohn and Merk finished in Vienna in 1830, the Variations were composed for some of Mendelssohn’s cousins, members of the Eskeles banking family, and exemplify the brilliant style of salon music typical of the age. Only the piano part has survived for this composition, which falls into a theme, four variations, and an extended finale. All that is lacking is the original cello part, necessitating some musicological sleuthing and composition to recapture an approximation of the original variations, and to bring back to the musical world a significant work from Mendelssohn’s early career that has long remained forgotten.
Accompanying the Variations is the Capriccio in A-flat major of Fanny Mendelssohn which complements her Fantasia in G minor already released on J138. Taken together, the two CDs present for the first time the complete cello works of the Mendelssohn siblings.