Musikalische Collage

To mark the anniversary of Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1874 - 1936), a grandson of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, tenor Michael Mogl and pianist Eva Mengelkoch would like to introduce his songs to a wide audience and present them in the thematic context of composers who were of central importance to Albrecht's artistic development.

Albrecht Mendelssohn himself was a renowned lawyer, political scientist and peace researcher. In 1919, he was the German envoy to the Treaty of Versailles negotiations. Like his ancestors, he was also multi-talented and was artistically active throughout his life as a pianist, composer, poet and librettist. His aunt Lili (née Mendelssohn) and uncle Adolf introduced Albrecht to the leading musicians of his time during his visits to Leipzig: Clara Schumann and her daughters, Max Reger, Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim, Heinrich and Elisabeth von Herzogenbergs and Ethel Smyth.

After the Nazis came to power, Albrecht fled into exile in Oxford, England, where he died of stomach cancer in 1936. His musical oeuvre and especially his songs were virtually unknown to the world until Eva Mengelkoch, inspired by a chance discovery of Albrecht Mendelssohn's song manuscripts in Arlington, Virginia, began researching Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy's vocal works.

• Michael Mogl, tenor
• Eva Mengelkoch, piano