Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Concerto in E minor op. 64 for violin and orchestra

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto op. 64 is a central work of the 19th century, which on the one hand is still associated with the classical style of a Beethoven, but on the other also points the way to the Romantic ideal of expression of a Brahms. It has long been known that Mendelssohn performed the work with three soloists in succession: Ferdinand David, who worked closely with the composer during the composition process and played the premiere, Joseph Joachim, the 'child prodigy', and Hubert Léonard, a young Belgian virtuoso about whom we know little.

Correction proofs for the Violin Concerto in E minor were long considered lost, so it was a minor sensation when they were recently found together with a letter from Mendelssohn to Léonard.

The letter informs us that the composer invited Léonard to his home in Frankfurt to get to know him. It was already known that Mendelssohn gave David proofs; but now we know that Léonard also received them.

The recently discovered proofs bear witness to Léonard playing the concerto together with Mendelssohn on that evening in February 1845. They contain line markings and fingerings and show how Léonard changed positions and where he used empty strings; they also include modified dynamic markings and additional legato slurs.

We can assume that all this was done with Mendelssohn in mind. That the young violinist made a positive impression on Mendelssohn is confirmed in the composer's letters after the evening together; Mendelssohn praised Léonard's playing highly and held out the prospect of helping him to find work in Germany.

Bärenreiter's revised edition of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto - only the orchestral parts have remained unchanged - includes a separate booklet on performance practice. The editor is the renowned expert on Romantic performance practice Clive Brown.

> New source situation thanks to the discovery of galley proofs believed to have been lost
> Revised Urtext edition
> With separate booklet on performance practice (English/German)