Search - Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Mackerras, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment :: Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 "Italian"; A Midsummer Night's Dream

Mackerras At His Best

Eric Bergerud | Albany, CA USA | 03/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I suppose everyone has performer or conductor that they consider under-appreciated. My poor unfortunate is Charles Mackerras. I have dozens of this gent's recordings and every single one is intelligent, beautifully played and at or near the top of their class. He is most famous, I guess, for his work with the Czech Philarmonic. (Figure that for someone born in the US and raised in New Zealand.) There's good reason for this. His Dvorak is great. And so is his Mozart which was so beloved in Prague. However, listeners have a very broad Mackerras selection to chose from. His Messiah with the Liverpool is flat out terrific and a perfect companion to Hogwood or Gardiner's period piece version of Handle's masterpiece. The list goes on.
This recording is likewise splendid. Mendelssohn's work just cries out for the clarity of period instruments and Mackerras at the head of the Orchestra of the Age of Enligtenment delivers. (I know Amazon reviewers like to knock Norrington, but do check out his Mendelssohn symphonies - they're really good.) The star of the show, however, is Midsummer's Night Dream. This is romantic orchestra music at it's best in my view and Mackerras and his band provide a really top notch perfomance - easily the best I've heard. Highly recommended."

Gloriously Spacious Sound, Beautiful Playing

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As far as Mendelssohn?s Italian symphony is concerned, there is, in the end, but little to choose between the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras and the period-instrument competition of the London Classical Players directed by Roger Norrington (both on Virgin). The OAE takes the whole symphony, and especially the first movement, at a slightly more relaxed tempo, but that certainly does not mean that there are no fireworks or that their playing is in any way ?lame?. Rather the opposite: I think I slightly prefer the OAE version with its gloriously spacious sound and beautiful playing. But Norrington is only a tiny fraction behind, and I would encourage Mendelssohn afficionados to try both recordings.



Whereas Norrington added the Scottish symphony to his Italian, Mackerras went for the overture and incidental music to ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream?. And here, too, he scores full points for bringing over Mendelssohn?s incredibly delicate and poignant instrumentation in a way that could scarcely be bettered. From the elfine atmosphere at the beginning of the overture right through to the Dance of the Clowns and the inevitable Wedding March, this is a recording that is riveting. Buy it now (while you have the chance)!

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A pleasant surprise in period Mendelssohn

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having bought thousands of LPs and CDs over a lifetime, I've sampled but only occasionally kept a Mackerras performance--to me, his likable, proficient conduting belongs on the second tier. But this relaxed, genial account of Mendelssohn's evergreen "Italian" Symphony came as a nice surprise. It moves fairly slowly in the fast movements and fairly quickly in the Andante (which the composer wants 'con moto') but is never in a hurry. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment plays with no expresssive vibrato. The resulting zing and "white" tonality usually drive me up the wall, but period style seems to come off well here. The strings, thanks to the absence of vibrato, need to be dead on pitch, and unfortunately they aren't always--a few sour notes creep in here and there.



The whole thing is a nice change from the often hectic, over-driven interpretations we hear from big-anme conductors. The orchestral suite from A Midsummer Night's Dream is equally low-key, and sometimes Mackerras veers too far into understatement, but as in the symphony, his slower tempos and geniality make for a refreshing change. Throughout, the orchestra plays colorfully--the valveless horns work especially well in the Nocturne--but one shouldn't expect the last word in virtuosity, as in Abbado's account with the Berlin Phil. on Sony."