To record the complete sets of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words represents a real challenge, with more than two hours of music. The prodigious pianist Stphane De May shares his passion delicately and thoughtfully through his sensitive performance of these works.
Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) is a series of short lyrical piano pieces by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn, written between 1829 and 1845. The eight volumes of "Songs Without Words", each consisting of six pieces (songs, lieder), were written at various points throughout Mendelssohn's life, and were published separately.
Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) is a series of short lyrical piano pieces by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn, written between 1829 and 1845. The eight volumes of "Songs Without Words", each consisting of six pieces (songs, lieder), were written at various points throughout Mendelssohn's life, and were published separately.
In 2017 Decca published the 10-CD Box "Mendelssohn Complete Piano Works”. The recordings (2005-2014) include 59 World Premieres.
‘Mendelssohn’ explores three facets of one of the most famous names in classical music: the glittering Piano Concerto No.1 by Felix with the London Mozart Players; the long-lost ‘Easter Sonata’ by his sister Fanny as well as transcriptions by other composers of Mendelssohn’s most famous music. In 2024, Isata featured in the critically acclaimed film ‘The Other Mendelssohn’, exploring the life of the exceptionally talented by overlooked Fanny Mendelssohn, later Fanny Hensel. In the film, they uncover the fact that the Easter Sonata, a piece lost for 150 years, was in fact written by Fanny, not Felix. Isata was the first artist to perform the work attributed to the correct composer. The album features this world premiere recording of the new urtext edition of Fanny Mendelssohn’s Easter Sonata. As well as beautiful solo piano transcriptions by Liszt (‘On Wings of Song’) and Rachmaninov (‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’), and two of Felix’s ‘Songs Without Words’ and Fanny’s ‘Nocturne’, also for solo piano.