MENDELSSOHN: OCTET; BOCCHERINI: QUINTET IN C MAJOR - ACADEMY OF ST. MARTIN IN THE FIELDS

Mendelssohn’s Octet, Op. 20 occupies a proud place in the history of works by indecently young composers; it is doubtful whether even such prodigies as Mozart and Schubert produced such an extended, mature work at the age of sixteen. Moreover, one of its movements granted the composer the honour of having an adjective named after him pass into common use – for this Scherzo Mendelssohnian is the only appropriate description. The coupling on this legendary recording – selected for inclusion by the Penguin Guide to the 1000 Finest Classical Recordings – is the much rarer Boccherini Quintet, is, like much of his music, gentle and genial… a quality that led to a contemporary once waspishly describing him as ‘Haydn’s wife’.

the whole work is splendidly done […] There is a knife-edge tautness about their performance [of the Scherzo] that is extraordinarily gripping’ (Mendelssohn) […] the minuet is a lollipop, at least as pretty as the Boccherini minuet … All in all, then, this is a most enjoyable work and very well played by all concerned. And very well recorded too. --GRAMOPHONE

This 1968 performance by the ASMF is fresh and buoyant and the recording wears its years lightly. It offers fine judgement in matters of clarity and sonority and is coupled with a highly desirable and much less well-known work by Boccherini. --PENGUIN GUIDE

1 Mendelssohn: Octet for Strings Op.20 - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
2 Boccherini: Quintet in C Major for Cellor and Strings Op.37 No 7 (G.310) - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields