Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn review: Musical siblings at their best when slower-paced

Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn were born with golden spoons in their mouths, children of an arts-loving banking family in Berlin. Felix (1809-1847) was one of the greatest child prodigies of his time. Fanny (1805-1847) was a gifted pianist and a composer accomplished enough for Felix to subvert a ban imposed by their father and publish some of her songs under his name without anyone spotting the subterfuge. The early 19th century was anything but accommodating to women who wanted to compose. The 1824 Piano Sextet in D by Felix (with a line-up including two violas and double bass) and 1822 Piano Quartet in A flat by Fanny are youthful works, written at the ages of 15 and 17, respectively. What they have in common is a high-spirited eagerness and a weakness for florid decoration that comes across as a sometimes vacuous kind of patter, a genuine case of too many notes. Technical skill is well displayed in the fast movements, but musical interest is higher in the slow ones. Fanny completed the darker, more highly tensioned and harmonically adventurous Piano Trio in D minor in the last year of her life. In the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective’s sympathetic performance it is the richest work in this collection.