Alejandro Bustamante - Fanny & Felix Mendelssohn Chamber Music (2021)

It is commendable and commendable that in the last two decades (yes, it took a long time to get there) gradually more attention has been paid to female composers and conductors, a trend that will undoubtedly continue. This development is also easy to follow from a discographic point of view, as witnessed by the growing number of CDs that are wholly or partly devoted to female composers and music conducted by women. As far as composers are concerned, this applies to both those from a (relatively) distant past and those who are active in the contemporary domain. The well-known NTR Saturday Matinee even devoted a separate series to it not so long ago. If there is a Dutch composer who will immediately come to mind for many, it is Henriëtte Bosmans (1895-1952).

Of course, this literally centuries-long neglect is not simply due to a lack of quality on the part of the ladies, although it is still claimed in reviews and in other publications that this is the case or has something to do with it indirectly. Whereby I wisely leave in the middle to what extent quality, when it comes to the music, can be measured in any somewhat objective sense. Only with regard to the applied technique of composing and of course the instrumentation can a certain degree of objectivity prevail, but as far as I'm concerned it ends there. There is no adequate standard for the statement that female composers are not inferior to their male colleagues, but the opposite also applies. While there is no arguing about taste.

In the highly readable article by colleague Gerard Scheltens about Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847), the older sister of Felix (1809-1847), it is noted, among other things, that she – according to Goethe – was just as gifted as her brother (click here). They were initiated into music theory by Ignaz Moscheles in 1822, but unlike Felix, there was no rich musical future ahead of her. Quote: "Maybe music will become his profession," wrote her art-loving daddy, referring to Felix, "but for you it can and may only be decoration and never the basis of your existence and occupation". After all, a woman was destined to devote herself entirely to husband and family. As we saw later with Alma Mahler (1879-1964), who was even forbidden by her Gustav to devote herself any longer to composing. But Clara Schumann as a composer also remained far in the shadow of her Robert, although she was widely appreciated as a pianist, not least by Johannes Brahms. So it can go wrong.

The new Mendelssohn album by the Spanish piano trio consisting of the pianist Alberto Rosado, the violinist Alejandro Bustamante and the cellist Lorenzo Meseguer, contains the turbulent Second Piano Trio in C, Op. 66 by Felix Mendelssohn fortunately also includes a number of works by Fanny, with the feverish Piano Trio in d, op. 11, a birthday present for her sister Rebecka. It was performed on April 11, 1847 as part of the Sonntagsmusiken, created by her father in their spacious Berlin home, with Fanny on the keyboard, her friend Robert von Keudell on the violin and her brother Paul on the cello. Fanny would die a month later from the effects of a stroke.

The Capriccio in A flat for cello and piano (which certainly doesn't start whimsically) is also more than worthwhile as a supplement but also as a repertoire piece, which also applies to the three songs in this arrangement for piano trio. Finally, there is a song arrangement, this time from a song by Felix Mendelssohn. Incidentally, with the caveat that there was no question of a radical arrangement: it turned out to be sufficient to give the voice to the violin part. It turned out to fit seamlessly with the sound register and articulation.

What particularly strikes in these renditions is their fresh, sparkling character, captured in energetic and technically flawless playing. The homogeneity of the ensemble is further underlined by the perfect balance between the three instruments. The individual voice, phrasing and articulation also contribute to the sound beauty that the ensemble displays in these works. The recording is both clear and sonorous, also suggesting breadth and depth. A magnificent album!