Ronald Brautigam, the pianist on this album, is a student of the legendary Rudolf Serkin and has received numerous awards, including the highest Dutch musical award, the Nederlandse Muziekprijs.
Composer Biography
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, a celebrated piano virtuoso, was considered by Robert Schumann to have played like Mozart.
Instruments
The fortepiano used for this recording was made by Paul McNulty in 2010, modeled after an 1830 Pleyel piano, a brand favored by Chopin.
Critical Reception
Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto, Op. 25, was so popular that Carl Reinecke predicted it would be played daily in conservatories, and Hector Berlioz recounted a humorous story of a piano playing it by itself.
Composition History
Mendelssohn composed his Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40, in 1837 during his honeymoon with his new bride, Cécile.
Composition History
Mendelssohn composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, in just three days during his educational journey to Italy in 1831.
Compositional Technique
Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto, Op. 25, features innovative formal boldness, including fusing tutti and solo sections and linking all three movements together without pause using fanfare-like transitions.
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