Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 'Scottish'
Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend
This is the second volume in a series of Hybrid SACD releases by Jan Willem de Vriend and the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra of the complete symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn. Volume 1 (CC72543) was released in January 2013 and featured the Symphony No. 2 ‘Lobgesang’, whilst this disc couples his first mature work in the genre, the opus 11 Symphony No. 1 in C minor, with one of his acknowledged masterpieces, the Symphony No. 3 in A minor known as the ‘Scottish’.
Mendelssohn’s mature symphonies are numbered approximately in the order that they were published rather than the order in which they were composed, the order of actual composition being 1, 5, 4, 2, 3. The Symphony No. 1 in C minor was written in 1824, when Mendelssohn was aged 15. The composer conducted the work on his first visit to London in 1829 with the orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society. The ‘Scottish’ Symphony, No. 3 in A minor, was written and revised intermittently between 1829 (when Mendelssohn noted down the opening theme during a visit to Holyrood Palace) and 1842, when it was given its premiere in Leipzig.
Jan Willem de Vriend has been the chief conductor and artistic director of The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra since 2006. Over the last eight years this musical collaboration has developed a formidable reputation on the Dutch and International music scene. It has become particularly notable for its use of period instruments in the brass section, and has consequently developed its own distinctive sound as regards the 18th and 19th century repertoire. Jan Willem de Vriend has also been a guest conductor with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
