Clara Schumann and the Mendelssohns

Repertoire

• Fanny Mendelssohn Overture in C
Clara Schumann Piano Concerto Listen
Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No.3 ‘Scottish’ Listen

Performers

• Natalia Ponomarchuk conductor
• Mishka Rushdie Momen piano

Fanny Mendelssohn remained in her brother’s shadow during their lifetime and for much of the intervening two centuries. But her music – nearly 400 scores – contains much of the transparency and melodic charm that characterises her more famous brother.

Felix was bewitched by Scotland and his evocative symphony is a dark-hued, dramatic love-letter to its moors and mists, the highlands and islands. It was Mendelssohn who conducted the premiere of Clara Schumann’s concerto with the young composer as soloist. This fascinating, innovative concerto, brimming with imagination, stands at the gateway to the Romantic era, and is a tantalising glimpse into a talent unable to be fully realised.