Beloved of the Gods

22/10/2009
Tony Way
The Age 'Green Guide' (Australia)

This year has been particularly rich in musical anniversaries and it’s fitting that Mendelssohn, a somewhat unfashionable composer, receives a share of the limelight on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Melbourne’s Tinalley Quartet give a passionate and insightful account of his early A minor Quartet, Op.13, written in the year of Beethoven’s death. The 18-year-old Mendelssohn’s gifts of lyrical and contrapuntal invention are beautifully and delicately brought to life. Anyone who thinks Mendelssohn is synonymous with stodge would do well to listen to this. The other ‘M’ here is Mozart. Brothers Brett and Paul Dean , together with Stephen Emmerson , perform the delightful but unusually scored ‘Kegelstett’ Trio for viola, clarinet and piano. Well-balanced textures and timbres are hallmarks of the trio’s playing. Emmerson’s Papamina Suite (an arrangement of items from The Magic Flute) is a pleasant make-weight.