Fey's Mendelssohn is razor-sharp

Thomas Fey leds the Heidelberger Sinfoniker on an awe-inspiringly colourful performance of two Mendelssohn symphonies

Composer: Mendelssohn
Repertoire: Symphony No.3; String Symphony No.11
Artists: Heidelberger Sinfoniker/Thomas Fey
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Instrumental
Label: Hänssler Classic CD 98.552

Fey favours bright tempi and razor-sharp articulation as he leads period group Heidelberger Sinfoniker through this latest instalment of his Mendelssohn cycle. All too often Mendelssohn’s understated ‘Scottish’ Symphony No.3 is made to sound like the runt of 19th-century repertoire. Fey, au contraire, packs his performance with chancy spontaneity; the spectrum of orchestral colour on offer is awe-inspiring. In the String Symphony No.11, Mendelssohn’s counterpoint floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.