Anyone looking for Mendelssohn's complete piano music -- a repertoire not often performed and less often recorded -- need look no further than this six disc set. It includes everything with an opus number and many things without one: the three Sonatas, the three Variations, the seven Preludes and Fugues, the ten Caprices, and, naturally, the 48 Songs without Words among many, many other works. The performances are consistently first-rate. With his refined technique, polished tone and elegant interpretations, Martin Jones is an impressive Mendelssohn pianist who ideally balances mind and heart in these performances. His Variations Sérieuses is stern but compassionate; his Sonata in G minor is austere but expressive; and his Songs without Words are always singing but also always supremely well-wrought. The only real flaw is the sound. Recorded by Nimbus in the middle to late Seventies, Jones sounds like he's playing behind the heavy curtains while the microphones are placed in the back of a small, empty hall. Still, for first-rate performances of Mendelssohn's complete piano music, this is the set to get, despite the dreary sound.
Martin Jones
Mendelssohn: Complete Piano Music
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AllMusic Review by James Leonard
Track Listing - Disc 1
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 33 | |||||||
1 | Martin Jones | 07:18 | Amazon | ||||
2 | Martin Jones | 07:22 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Martin Jones | 07:51 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Martin Jones | 05:51 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Martin Jones | 06:52 | Amazon | ||||
6 | Martin Jones | 00:55 | Amazon | ||||
7 | Martin Jones | 05:22 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Martin Jones | 06:09 | Amazon | ||||
9 | Martin Jones | 02:48 | Amazon | ||||
Klavierstücke (2) for piano | |||||||
10 | Martin Jones | 02:26 | Amazon | ||||
11 | Martin Jones | 02:27 | Amazon | ||||
12 | Martin Jones | 07:38 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 2
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Piano Sonata in B flat major, Op. 106 | |||||||
1 | Martin Jones | 05:31 | Amazon | ||||
2 | Martin Jones | 03:00 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Martin Jones | 04:31 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Martin Jones | 03:47 | Amazon | ||||
Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 6 | |||||||
5 | Martin Jones | 05:55 | Amazon | ||||
6 | Martin Jones | 04:18 | Amazon | ||||
7 | Martin Jones | 05:55 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Martin Jones | 06:11 | Amazon | ||||
Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 105 | |||||||
9 | Martin Jones | 05:57 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Martin Jones | 06:08 | Amazon | ||||
11 | Martin Jones | 03:50 | Amazon | ||||
Kinderstücke (6) for piano ("Christmas Pieces"), Op. 72 | |||||||
12 | Martin Jones | 00:59 | Amazon | ||||
13 | Martin Jones | 01:32 | Amazon | ||||
14 | Martin Jones | 00:50 | Amazon | ||||
15 | Martin Jones | 01:14 | Amazon | ||||
16 | Martin Jones | 01:30 | Amazon | ||||
17 | Martin Jones | 01:23 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 3
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preludes & Fugues (6) for piano, Op. 35 | |||||||
1 | Martin Jones | 02:06 | Amazon | ||||
2 | Martin Jones | 06:32 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Martin Jones | 02:53 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Martin Jones | 03:15 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Martin Jones | 01:53 | Amazon | ||||
6 | Martin Jones | 02:57 | Amazon | ||||
7 | Martin Jones | 02:49 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Martin Jones | 03:59 | Amazon | ||||
9 | Martin Jones | 05:31 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Martin Jones | 03:34 | Amazon | ||||
11 | Martin Jones | 02:30 | Amazon | ||||
12 | Martin Jones | 03:05 | Amazon | ||||
Prelude & Fugue for piano in E minor | |||||||
13 | Martin Jones | 02:03 | Amazon | ||||
14 | Martin Jones | 04:04 | Amazon | ||||
Preludes (3) & Etudes (3) for piano, Op. 104 | |||||||
15 | Martin Jones | 02:43 | Amazon | ||||
16 | Martin Jones | 01:28 | Amazon | ||||
17 | Martin Jones | 01:56 | Amazon | ||||
18 | Martin Jones | 02:02 | Amazon | ||||
19 | Martin Jones | 03:02 | Amazon | ||||
20 | Martin Jones | 01:29 | Amazon | ||||
21 | Martin Jones | 01:38 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 4
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Martin Jones | 10:54 | Amazon | ||||
Fantasies or Caprices (3) for piano, Op. 16 | |||||||
2 | Martin Jones | 04:38 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Martin Jones | 02:22 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Martin Jones | 03:22 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Martin Jones | 07:51 | Amazon | ||||
Fantasy for piano in F sharp minor ("Sonate écossaise"), Op. 28 | |||||||
6 | Martin Jones | 06:38 | Amazon | ||||
7 | Martin Jones | 02:23 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Martin Jones | 05:36 | Amazon | ||||
9 | Martin Jones | 08:13 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Martin Jones | 07:04 | Amazon |