Search - Mendelssohn, Sharon, Budapest Sym Orch :: Mendelssohn: The Complete Concertos

Excellent Value for the Price

Music Is Everything | Colorado Springs, CO USA | 08/29/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Brilliant Classics label has taken the Classical recording world by storm, issuing bargain-priced box sets, often focused on complete works of major composers. This 4-CD set of the complete Mendelssohn concerti is a great deal for the money. Derek Han is his usual polished-but-conservative self in the Piano Concerti (op. 25 & 40) and Cappriccio Brillante. The Paratore brothers deliver surprisingly good performances of the concerti for 2 pianos. Emmy Verhey does justice to the violin concerto, though there are certainly better recordings. From there, the real value surfaces: The lesser-known concerti. Gil Sharon's performance of the rarely-heard D Minor violin concerto leaves us wondering why it's not performed more, and the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings in D Minor (with Sharon and Vart van Oort) is a revelation. Siegfried Stockigt also makes the case for the Piano Concerto in A Minor, which Mendelssohn never gave an opus number. All recorded in digital, with very fine (though not Top 10) orchestras, the sound quality is generally very good. Certainly there are better recordings of Mendelssohn's most popular concerti, but this set cannot be matched for the rare works and the reasonable price. Enjoy."