Heinz Wallberg - Mendelssohn: Die beiden Pädagogen (1998)

Mendelssohn, who was every bit as prodigious a child as Mozart, wrote "The Two Pedagogues" at the age of 12; the work was performed in 1821 in the Mendelssohn home, then lost until 1960. The libretto by Johann Ludwig Casper, a family friend, is based on a play by Eugène Scribe and reflects the contemporary debate about educational reform between the "practical realism" of Basedow and Pestalozzi's greater concern for the child's individual development. The plot concerns the efforts of Herr Robert, an ambitious country gentleman, to educate his son Carl, who is more interested in Robert's niece Elise than in becoming a scholar. Kinderschrecht, the old-fashioned local schoolmaster, recommends that Robert hire a learned professor from Vienna, but the invitation is intercepted by the professor's valet, Luftig, who takes his place and, with the help of Hännchen, the schoolmaster's niece, frustrates their plans and contrives a happy ending. Mendelssohn had not yet developed a distinctive voice, but while the piece is clearly Mozartean in inspiration, it is none the worse for that, and the arias and ensembles are witty and tuneful. In this 1978 recording, Fischer-Dieskau as Kinderschrecht has a great time with an aria praising the use of the cane, Fuchs is an attractive Hännchen, and everybody else (including chorus and orchestra) performs well.