Peter Donohoe - Mendelssohn: Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 3 (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Scherzo à capriccio in F-Sharp Minor, WoO 3, MWV U 113
02. Fantasie in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 28, MWV U 92 Écossaise
03. Capriccio in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 5, MWV U 50
04. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: I. Allegretto con espressione
05. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: II. Tempo di menuetto - Più vivace
06. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: III. Recitativo. Adagio e senza tempo
07. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: IV. Molto allegro e vivace
08. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: I. Allegro vivace
09. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: II. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo
10. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: III. Andante quasi allegretto
11. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: IV. Allegro moderato
12. Concert Paraphrase on Mendelssohn's Sommernachtstraum, S. 410

All the works recorded here were composed between 1825 and 1835, when Mendelssohn was aged between sixteen and twenty-six. He spent much of this decade travelling, from Berlin to Paris via Weimar, then London and Scotland before work in Düsseldorf eventually led to his appointment as municipal musical director and conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. The Piano Sonata in E major and that in B flat major, and indeed the Phantasie (subtitled Sonate écossaise), owe some debt to Beethoven, but are also influenced by Weber, Hummel, and Moscheles (to whom the Phantasie was dedicated). The two shorter works (Scherzo à capriccio and Capriccio) perhaps show a more relaxed side of the composer, free from the constraints of sonata form. Liszt’s virtuosic re-working of themes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream completes the programme. Born in Manchester in 1953, Peter Donohoe studied at Chetham’s School of Music for seven years, graduated in music from the University of Leeds, and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek Wyndham, and then in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. He is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility, and commanding technique.