Mendelssohn

The Hebrides, 'Fingal's Cave',Op. 26 - Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, 'Calm Sea and,Op. 27 - Ruy Blas,Op. 95 - Athalie,Op. 74 - Overture A Midsummer Night's Dream,Opp. 21 and 61 - Overture, Op. 21

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/Claus Peter Flor

RCA RD87905 (59 minutes : DDD)

Reviewed: Gramophone (1/1989)

Flor's recording of the complete A Midsummer Night's Dream music, made in Bamberg, was given a highly enthusiastic review by IM last October (RCA RD87764), and this disc of overtures proves to be a more than a worthy successor from the same source.
Time was when one didn't expect much more than average playing on record from the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, but on this evidence things have changed very much for the better; in fact the orchestra is now a high-class ensemble with superlative playing in all departments. Flor has an excellent feel for Mendelssohn's music. Most importantly he never drives it too hard, and even when he chooses a swift tempo there is an engaging lightness of touch and a quicksilver quality in his conducting. And he understands the paradox that while Mendelssohn's scores should never be made to sound too heavy they often contain more emotional depth and expressive weight than is immediately apparent.
I understand that the performance of the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture is the same as in the recording of the complete score. Flor's reading is spacious, alert and affectionate with many felicities of detail delicately expressed. Camacho's Wedding is a real rarity, though it shouldn't be, for although written when Mendelssohn was merely 16 years old it has a charmingly open-hearted character and high craftsmanship. Athalie, a strong, serious piece from the composer's later years, is also seldom heard, and receives a forth-right, dramatic performance. In Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Flor makes an effective contrast between the work's grave introduction and its buoyant main section, with the string section showing a high degree of athleticism and with seductive, bubbly sounds from the woodwind. Ruy Blas is given an urgently expressive yet beautifully balanced reading, while The Hebrides receives a delicately inflected, most imaginative performance.
The recording of this very desirable disc seems to me just about ideal, for it has a very natural, warm quality with plenty of space, clarity and detail.