Felix Mendelssohn as a Pianist

[presto agitato]

For those who believe that Liszt and Chopin were the best pianist of their time...Read this:


Many people witnessed Mendelssohn's piano playing and, as Donald Mintz has pointed out, there is a remarkable consensus among the reports of it. Mendelssohn's playing possessed "enormous dexterity, great accuracy, a feeling of fire, and passionate involvement." Apart from his own music, Mendelssohn's public repertory was relatively limited, but within those pieces he was a quite insightful and accomplished interpreter. He seems always to have been able to rouse audiences to a frenzy through his playing, but less because of his virtuosity as such than because his playing brought audiences face to face with the music he played.

One of the features of Mendelssohn's public performances as a pianist involved his abilities as an improviser. This was particularly noted in England late in his life when during a rehearsal he improvised three different cadenzas for the first movement of Beethoven's Fourth Concerto, and then played yet a different one at the concert. Unlike many improvised cadenzas of that time, Mendelssohn's were firmly based on the motivic content of the movement.

Although Mendelssohn's playing and compositional style were relatively conservative, there exists one recollection that shows him capable of more advanced feats. Once when Liszt played a Hungarian melody and four increasingly dazzling variations on it for an assembly that included Mendelssohn, Liszt then demanded that Mendelssohn play something as well. After resisting for a while on the grounds that he no longer played much, Mendelssohn finally agreed on condition that Liszt would not be angry with him for what he was about to do-whereupon he sat down and played Liszt's melody with variations that he had just heard for the first time, note for note! Liszt was too impressed to be angry, even though in achieving his feat Mendelssohn had had to imitate some of Liszt's showman-like "raptures."

The first great piano work by Mendelssohn was his Andante and Rondo capriccioso, op. 14. Its opening section is filled with magical intimacy of expression, while the rest of the piece is a virtuoso romp of elfin lightness that is quite difficult to play. Edvard Grieg, who studied at the Leipzig Conservatory of Music about twenty years after Mendelssohn founded it, tells the story of a professor of piano there. Because of Mendelssohn's role in the history of the conservatory, it was customary for students to study his works faithfully, but this Rondo was beyond the grasp of many of them. When they would ask this professor for a demonstration of how one could make one's way through the piece, the man (named Wenzel) would play through the Andante in a most expressive manner, get to the Rondo, and say "Et cetera."

This story gets to the core of one of the challenges in playing Mendelssohn's music. So much of it goes at an extremely rapid rate and the performer must learn to play many notes quickly and lightly, with emphasis on momentum rather than expressive inflection. This is unlike the style of performance demanded by much other music, however, and very unlike the kind of style practiced in the twentieth century, which prefers tangibility to evanescence. Nevertheless, many of Mendelssohn's fast works make better sense at tempos that are faster and lighter than most performers are prepared to achieve. Could it be that this discrepancy between performance style and Mendelssohn's music is one of the reasons Mendelssohn seems difficult to revive in our day?

[kempff]

wow, those are some good information, where did you get them from?

Mendelssohn was indeed a great pianist, it's obvious from most of his compositions.

[Spatula]

I don't like the ones in the major key of his songs without words...too boring I think.

Just about as boring as a majority of Chopin's Nocts. (some nocts are good though)

[presto agitato]

More comments?

[hodi]

i always thought felix mendelssohn was the greatest genius of musical history, and here u gave another proof for it.

[abe]

well, there have been many musical geniuses over the centuries, and I think its stretching it a little to suggest that Mendelssohn was the greatest. However, I do very much like his music, and considering how young he died and consequently how young he was when he composed his greatest works is something to think about. i.e. he composed Andante and Rondo Cappricioso when he was 15.

[hodi]

many of the critics say that he composed his best work when he was young
i think it's not true
he composed his violin concerto, the 2 piano trios (which really show off the composer's melodical gift) and elijah ortario in the later years of his life.

[abe]

let's compromise and say he wrote his best music throughout his entire life! 

[kissinfan]

Felix Mendelssohn is a perfect icon of what a truly musician is supoused to be:

both great composer and pianist
musicologist, critic
innovative and awesome personality

rarely in these days there are musicians like them, or they´re just composers not pianists or musicologists, we hardly are one of them...

[julie391]

many of the critics say that he composed his best work when he was young
i think it's not true
he composed his violin concerto, the 2 piano trios (which really show off the composer's melodical gift) and elijah ortario in the later years of his life.

very true, they are my favourite works of his

[mostlyclassical]

i always thought felix mendelssohn was the greatest genius of musical history, and here u gave another proof for it.

I agree, along with Schubert. One can only imagine what would have happenned to western music, were they to live longer.

[bach-liszt]

I have played numerous piano works of F.M. and have enjoyed them.  Most of all, I have enjoyed playing his works for organ (on the organ) including the Prelude and Fuge in G and the Sonata No.1 and a movement from Sonata No. 2.   He was the greatest writer for the organ during his time and, of course, was largely responsible for the creating a real interest in Bach.

[mikey6]

It's famously documented that he liked to paly most of his works as fast as possible (as long as all the notes can be heard)
So I've read, the neglect of some of his music is it's continuos 'finger spinning' and light emotional connection, but always exceptionally well crafted.

[emmdoubleew]

I don't doubt he was an amazing pianist, and I know for sure he was an amazing composer, writer and painter (have you seen his watercolors? beautiful).

However, the descriptions you provided of his piano skills sound an aweful lot like 11-year old Liszt to be honest.

Some examples:
"Mendelssohn finally agreed on condition that Liszt would not be angry with him for what he was about to do-whereupon he sat down and played Liszt's melody with variations that he had just heard for the first time, note for note! Liszt was too impressed to be angry, even though in achieving his feat Mendelssohn had had to imitate some of Liszt's showman-like "raptures.""

When Liszt was 11 he attended a chamber music performance. After the concert was over he could not help himself and rushed to the piano for an extended improvisations on the themes he had just heard (note for note, transposed all over the scales)

"He seems always to have been able to rouse audiences to a frenzy through his playing, but less because of his virtuosity as such than because his playing brought audiences face to face with the music he played."
When he was in his early twenties Liszt managed to get the entire Capital of Hungary to escort him home screaming "FRANZEREC LISZT! FRANZEREC LISZT!" (including the miltary band) And I doubt his virtuosity was the sole cause of such an uprising (to note: Liszt, although flattered, was contrarily to popular beleif slightly embarassed at this ordeal.)

I don't doubt Mendelsohn was an incredible human being, and actually I would much rather have a drink with him than Liszt. But best pianist? I don't think so.

[presto agitato]

But best pianist? I don't think so.

He also was an amazing organist. 

[mostlyclassical]

Best pianist? We could never all agree for today's generation of pianists, let alone for people who died 150 years ago. It's just not possible. It is well documented that Mendelssohn was a top pianist. He died much younger than Liszt though, and never reached the 'star' status Liszt enjoyed. He probably didn't want to anyway. When it comes to child-prodigies, Mendelssohn was considered even more impressive than Mozart. But that doesn't mean much. I prefer Mendelssohn as a musician (including the piano compositions of course) but I can't say who played the piano best. It's pointless. Let's just enjoy their works.