Recording
Title: The Complete String Quartets
Performer: Pacifica Quartet
Year: 2004
Length: 54 minutes
Review
I really like Mendelssohn, his music always seems to have an extrovert quality to it that really shines through. These two early string quartets are no exception to that rule.
Even if they are clearly influenced by Beethoven's works they are also considerably brighter than Beethoven, reflecting Mendelssohn's personality. Interestingly Quartet number two was actually composed first, and it is in this one that Beethoven's presence is more apparent, in the first but later quartet Mendelssohn's own style is more in evidence.
All in all pretty enjoyable recording of these two string quartets, which also have the advantage of not being too well known, unlike much Mendelssohn music, which suffers from overexposure.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Quartet number 2:
Mendelssohn wrote the quartet two years after Ludwig van Beethoven published his last quartets, and months after his death. Beethoven's late quartets received a lukewarm reception at best, and many — including Mendelssohn's own father — agreed with composer Louis Spohr that they were an "indecipherable, uncorrected horror". Mendelssohn, however, was fascinated by them. He studied the scores, and included many quotes from Beethoven's quartets in opus 13.
Quartet no. 1 First movement:
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