Peter Donohoe‘s busy recording schedule has seen a wealth of wonderful new releases in recent months. The latest addition to his discography is a second volume of Felix Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte), following on from the first edition which was released by Chandos in early 2022. Of the first volume, Musical Opinion Quarterly wrote in a 5-star review:
“… A great record, recommended without reservation. If further issues in this series maintain this standard, the final set will be very hard to beat.”
Buy download or CD from Chandos
Publishing them in sets of six, Mendelssohn composed Lieder ohne Worte throughout his career – they proved a type of composition to which he had a lifetime attraction. For the first volume, rather than approaching them chronologically or as complete sets, Peter Donohoe selected pieces to build a satisfying programme. Here he does the same with all the pieces that remain. In addition, the album features three free-standing significant works. The 17 Variations sérieuses, from 1841, is one of Mendelssohn’s largest solo piano works, and was published in an album to raise funds for a monument to Beethoven. The Phantasie on ‘The Last Rose of Summer’ is a much earlier work, based on the Irish folk melody that – with added words by the Irish poet Thomas Moore – took Europe by storm in the early 1800s. The album concludes with Rachmaninoff’s piano transcription of the Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.