Mendelssohn in Birmingham, Vol. 2

Felix Mendelssohn is associated with the English city of Birmingham through stays in the 1830s and 1840s, but especially through the premiere of his oratorio Elijah, so that one can rightly speak of a Mendelssohn city. The recordings of the complete symphonies by Mendelssohn with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner took place in the historic Town Hall. With the prelude to Victor Hugo’s tragedy Ruy Blas, episode two offers a rarity that is really worth hearing and which is quite unjustly overshadowed by the composer’s other overtures.