Warner Classics, 62769, 5 CDs, DDD
Here's a budget box set featuring Felix Mendelssohn's [1809-1847] own orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in original Teldec recordings in outstanding sound with a conductor, Kurt Masur, who seems to have given the music of Mendelssohn a special priority.
The CD breakdown, ALL with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, under Kurt Masur's baton:
CD 1 [55:07]
•Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 11
•Symphony No. 5 in D Major, Op. 107 {"Reformation"}
CD 2 [58:31]
•Symphony No. 2 in B Major, Op. 52 {Lobgesang/Hymn of Praise}
Barbara Bonney, soprano I; Edith Wiens, soprano II
Peter Schreier, tenor
Leipzig Radio Chorus; Michael Schönheit, organist
CD 3 [66:59]
•Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56 {Scottish}
•Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 {Italian}
CD 4 [48:47]
•Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25
•Capriccio brillant in B Minor, Op. 22
•Piano Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40
Cyrpien Katsaris, piano
CD 5 [63:01]
•A Midsummer Nights Dream w/Op. 21 Overture
Complete Text Version
Edith Wiens, soprano
Christiane Oertel, mezzo-soprano
Friedhelm Eberle, narrator
Leipzig Radio Chorus
Gert Frischmuth, director
Regarding the "Lobgesang" Symphony No. 2, I was a little disappointed with the overall symphony on Decca [475 6939] with Margaret Price, Sally Burgess, and Siegfried Jerusalem with the same Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra only under Riccardo Chailly's direction. Under Masur, it seems to drag a bit. Both sopranos—Wiens and Margaret Price—take on their parts superbly well. ♫
