Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, two sibling prodigies whose lives took very different paths, but whose music had much in common.

He concentrates on Felix's growing popularity as he receives his first commissions following his grand tour, contrasting it with his sister's adaptation to married life. She starts her own salon in the Mendelssohn family home, where she can play and conduct her own works.

Including one of those commissioned works which became known as the Italian Symphony, a cantata premiered at Fanny's musical evenings, plus the last major work she would write for many years to come.

Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Op 19 No 6
Luba Edlina (piano)
Chandos CHAN 89489, CD1 Tr 6
Duration: 2m18s

Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Op 30 No 2
Luba Edlina (piano)
Chandos CHAN 89489, Tr 8
Duration: 2m13s

Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat
Erato Quartett Basel
CPO 999 679-2 Trs 1-4
Duration: 19m47s

Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony (1st mvt)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Walter Weller (conductor)
Chandos CHAN 10224(3) X, CD3 Tr 1
Duration: 10m38s

Mendelssohn: Die Erste Walpurgisnacht (excerpt)
Eberhard Buchner (tenor)
Siegfried Lorenz (baritone)
Siegfried Vogel (bass)
Rundfunkchor Leipzig
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Kurt Masur (conductor)
Berlin Classics BC 2057-2, Trs 8-11
Duration: 11m56s. Show less