Chen Reiss – Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel & Felix Mendelssohn: Arias, Lieder, Overtures (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Chen Reiss – Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel & Felix Mendelssohn: Arias, Lieder, Overtures (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:07 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PM Classics Ltd.

Soprano Chen Reiss writes: ‘Discovering the dramatic scene “Hero & Leander” by Fanny Hensel left me amazed by the richness of colours and invention, as well as her skilful orchestration and dramatic expression’.

Felix Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny is only now emerging as a significant composer in her own right. Many of her compositions were published under her brother’s name, such was the difficulty faced by female composers in the 19th century to get published and gain recognition. This album contains a selection of her Lieder in new arrangements for orchestra, her dramatic scene for soprano & orchestra ‘Hero und Leander’ set to a text by her father, and the Introduction and an aria from her cantata ‘Lobgesang’. Felix’s concert aria Infelice and the 1st Rome version of ‘Fingals Cave’.

It’s a happy sign of the times that female composers are now being rediscovered and celebrated, no longer lost to time and trapped in an era of sexism and inequality. Felix Mendelssohn’s love for his sister Fanny, his ‘alter ego’ both in terms of precociousness and musical talent, is no secret. However, this genuine brotherly love wasn’t enough to encourage Fanny to pursue a career as a composer. Her fulfilment came only from her marriage and a life devoted to her family and domestic tasks.

Israeli soprano Chen Reiss makes up for this injustice with this exquisite recording. It’s mainly devoted to vocal pieces by Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn, whose compositional quality is, at the very least, equal to that of her brother. A few Lieder, a cantata and a dramatic scene offer a small glimpse of her incredible talent, just enough to make the world mournfully aware of how few works were left behind by this composer who had so much to say. The album begins with bitter-sweet humour, a concert aria by Felix entitled Infelice!, Op. 94 (“unhappy!”), which seems an apt way to describe his sister’s misfortune of being a gifted musician dreaming of a golden age.

As a complement to this vocal album, the original 1830 version of one of Felix’s masterpieces, the overture of Hebrides has also been included (and sees Daniel Grossmann conduct the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich). This famous orchestral composition, which was much admired by Berlioz, Brahms and even Wagner, was one of the most reworked throughout its composition, and this version is a far cry from his masterly final work. Mendelssohn was his own worst critic, finding this first draft to have a “very silly” passage with a “development section that smacks more of counterpoint than fish oil, seagulls and dried salted fish”. He may not be wrong. – François Hudry

Tracklist:

01. Chen Reiss – Infelice, Op. 94, MWV H4 (14:07)
02. Chen Reiss – 6 Lieder, Op. 9: No. 6, Die Mainacht (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (03:37)
03. Chen Reiss – 6 Lieder, Op. 1: No. 6, Gondellied (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (03:07)
04. Chen Reiss – 6 Lieder, Op. 9: No. 3, Der Rosenkranz (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (02:45)
05. Chen Reiss – 12 Gesänge, Op. 8 (With Felix Mendelssohn): No. 3, Italien (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (02:09)
06. Daniel Grossmann – Lobgesang, Cantata H-U. 257: I. Introduzione (Pastorale) [Arr. for Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon] (02:07)
07. Chen Reiss – Lobgesang, Cantata H-U 257: IV. Aria, O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte [Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon] (04:34)
08. Chen Reiss – Dämmrung senkt sich von oben, H-U. 392 (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (03:19)
09. Chen Reiss – 6 Lieder, Op. 1: No. 3, Warum sind denn die Rosen so blass? (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (02:11)
10. Chen Reiss – 12 Lieder, Op. 9: No. 10, Verlust (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (01:58)
11. Chen Reiss – 6 Lieder, Op. 9: No. 4, Die frühen Gräber (Arr. for Soprano and Orchestra by Tal-Haim Samnon) (04:11)
12. Daniel Grossmann – The Hebrides Overture “Fingal’s Cave”, Op. 26 (Rome Version) (12:29)
13. Chen Reiss – Hero und Leander, Dramatic Scene, H-U. 262 (08:26)

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