Peter Donohoe - Mendelssohn: Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 3 '2026

Tracks list

	Tracklist

01. Scherzo à capriccio in F-Sharp Minor, WoO 3, MWV U 113
02. Fantasie in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 28, MWV U 92 Écossaise
03. Capriccio in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 5, MWV U 50
04. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: I. Allegretto con
espressione
05. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: II. Tempo di menuetto - Più
vivace
06. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: III. Recitativo. Adagio e
senza tempo
07. Piano Sonata No. 1 in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U 54: IV. Molto allegro e vivace
08. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: I. Allegro vivace
09. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: II. Scherzo. Allegro
non troppo
10. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: III. Andante quasi
allegretto
11. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U 64: IV. Allegro moderato
12. Concert Paraphrase on Mendelssohn's Sommernachtstraum, S. 410
 
All the works recorded here were composed between 1825 and 1835, when
Mendelssohn was aged between sixteen and twenty-six. He spent much of this
decade travelling, from Berlin to Paris via Weimar, then London and Scotland
before work in Düsseldorf eventually led to his appointment as municipal
musical director and conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. The Piano
Sonata in E major and that in B flat major, and indeed the Phantasie (subtitled
Sonate écossaise), owe some debt to Beethoven, but are also influenced by
Weber, Hummel, and Moscheles (to whom the Phantasie was dedicated). The two
shorter works (Scherzo à capriccio and Capriccio) perhaps show a more relaxed
side of the composer, free from the constraints of sonata form. Liszt’s
virtuosic re-working of themes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream completes the
programme. Born in Manchester in 1953, Peter Donohoe studied at Chetham’s
School of Music for seven years, graduated in music from the University of
Leeds, and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek
Wyndham, and then in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. He is
acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship,
stylistic versatility, and commanding technique. 

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