Die erste Walpurgisnacht ~ Mendelssohn
17 May 2025/ Belgium / Namur
Mendelssohn is a genius who is still little loved by musicologists. Alexis Kossenko is passionate about redressing this injustice and reminding all music lovers of what a genius he was by devoting his complete symphonic works to him.
Following on from the recording successes of The Italian and The Scotswoman, this third instalment will feature the celebrated violin concerto, led by the brilliant, refined bow of Daniel Sepec, as well as the most explosive and exhilarating of Mendelssohn's works: the great cantata Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, which culminates in a fantastic Sabbath.
Imagine what could happen when Mendelssohn, poet and orchestral virtuoso, was asked to set the Sabbath night to music! He brought the marvellous out of reality: from the storm at the opening, to the mischievous or fairy-like beings that seemed to come out of every pore of the music... to the explosion into a gigantic Sabbath that made the listener lose his bearings, dizzy with the whirlwind of witches!
‘I saw Mendelssohn, oh my God, what a talent!... It's unheard of... superb, great, delicate, graceful, sensitive, violent, fast, strong, gentle, profound’, Berlioz wrote.
Following on from the recording successes of The Italian and The Scotswoman, this third instalment will feature the celebrated violin concerto, led by the brilliant, refined bow of Daniel Sepec, as well as the most explosive and exhilarating of Mendelssohn's works: the great cantata Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, which culminates in a fantastic Sabbath.
Imagine what could happen when Mendelssohn, poet and orchestral virtuoso, was asked to set the Sabbath night to music! He brought the marvellous out of reality: from the storm at the opening, to the mischievous or fairy-like beings that seemed to come out of every pore of the music... to the explosion into a gigantic Sabbath that made the listener lose his bearings, dizzy with the whirlwind of witches!
‘I saw Mendelssohn, oh my God, what a talent!... It's unheard of... superb, great, delicate, graceful, sensitive, violent, fast, strong, gentle, profound’, Berlioz wrote.
