Originally published on March 8
I gave the first volume a brief mention wrapped inside some Grieg, Peter Donohoe’s excellent collection of Lyric Pieces, http://www.colinscolumn.com/peter-donohoe-records-griegs-lyric-pieces-for-chandos-volume-one/, and that splendid Mendelssohn opener now has an equally worthy successor. Donohoe plays these miniatures of salon charm and romantic ardour with affection, shape and sensitivity, energetic virtuosity, too, music that ripples with invention and imagery, plenty of variety. Donohoe, in golden form, has been very well recorded by Jonathan Cooper at Potton Hall, in October 2021/March 22, and this (April) release also includes Variations sérieuses, which Donohoe plays increasingly like a man possessed, and an agile account, avoiding preciousness, of the ’Scherzo’ from Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream as transcribed by Rachmaninov. Chandos CHAN 20267.