with ORCHESTRA
Second Pianoforte Concerto (in D Minor), Op. 40
(Allegro Appassionato ; Adagio-Molto Sostenuto ; Finale-Presto Scherzando)
WHEN this Concerto was first performed at the Birmingham Festival in 1827, Mendelssohn played the solo part, and he also conducted the performance of his Oratorio St. Paul, which had only once before been given in this country. In the Concerto he has followed a plan he several times adopted-that of letting the Movements pass into one another without break. The First of the three (quick, impassioned) flows into the Second (slow) Movement, and though there is a pause after this, the Finale (very quick and agitated) is meant to follow straight upon its heels.