Piano Concerto No. 2 (Mendelssohn) - Critical Reaction

Critical Reaction

Despite the effort it took Mendelssohn to write the concerto, it has been seen as a somewhat slight contribution to the repertoire. The composer Robert Schumann, writing in the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, offered a frank assessment of the piece, observing:

This concerto, to be sure, will offer virtuosos little in which to show off their monstrous dexterity. Mendelssohn gives them almost nothing to do that they have not already done a hundred times before. We have often heard them complain about it. And not unjustly! ...

One will ask how it compares with his First Concerto. It's the same, and yet not the same; the same because it comes from the same practised master hand, different because it comes ten years later. Sebastian Bach is discernible in the harmonization. The rest, melody, form and instrumentation are all Mendelssohn.

Let us enjoy the fleeting, cheerful gift! It resembles one of those works thrown off by the older masters while recuperating from one of their great exertions. Our younger master will certainly not forget how the older ones would suddenly emerge with something magnificent - Mozart's Concerto in D minor, Beethoven's in G!

Despite being overshadowed by other Romantic Piano Concertos (including Schumann's own 1845 Concerto) and the relative simplicity of the piano part, it is nonetheless frequently performed and recorded.