In his own day Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) was one of the most respected musicians in Europe. A highly appreciated composer, conductor and pianist, in his short life he left a comprehensive corpus of works, of which pieces for piano solo occupy a significant part Many of his piano compositions owe their existence to the fact that as an internationally requested performer Mendelssohn continually wrote works for his own use. 
His aim in these works was to offer the most effective display of the soloist's abilities; thus his two piano concertos are both proof of his talent as a composer and a mirror of his own virtuoso command of piano technique. Mendelssohn started to work an the first of the two concertos included in this recording during his Italian journey in 1830. The work begins with an unusually brief orchestral exposition, a rising tremolo energetically taken up by the piano and continued "con fuoco". This is the beginning of a feverish, tumbling dialogue between soloist and orchestra that will carry an throughout the entire first movement like a brilliant fireworks display, fleetingly interrupted by slightly more restrained moments like the lyrical second theme. 
The second movement is a lied-like Andante of delicate tone colour, whose mood is reminiscent of many a central movement in Mozart’s piano concertos. A fiery rondo follows, opening with blaring trumpet peals of captivating dash and great technical demands. With its felicitous combination of direct musical communication and virtuoso splendour this concerto became a showpiece for the genre in the 19th century. Virtuoso splendour is likewise a characteristic of the two concert pieces opus 22 and opus 29, a Capriccio and a Rondo, both of which rightly add "brilliant" to their titles and were composed in the same period as the concerto. These types of composition enjoyed great popularity at that time and were also written for other instruments. Concert programmes in the early 19th century could be very colourful. 
Unlike today, it was quite common for compositions of different character and widely varying instrumental groups, both vocal and instrumental, to be offered an the same evening. Single movements from solo concertos were played, but also shorter concertante pieces that fitted well into these programme series. 
The Capriccio begins with a delicate introduction, followed by a capricious main theme and a brightly leaping secondary theme, while after countless vagaries a merry idea based on march rhythms provides the conclusion. Mendelssohn wrote the Capriccio opus 22 for himself, but the Rondo opus 29, a far less varied piece, was written for the pianist Ignaz Moscheles. 
Both compositions are presumably intended to serve as a sort of piano visiting card-short, effective works with which the pianist could present himself to his public as a virtuoso performer. 
Mendelssohn himself gave the first performance of his one-movement Capriccio during a visit to London in 1832. The Serenade and Allegro gioioso opus 43 is again a concert piece, though it was written much later in 1838. A piece of evening music ("Serenade") flooded in moonlight is followed by a movement of original jollity. 
The work was played by the composer himself at a charity concert during the Brunswick Music Festival of 1839, in a programme which also included Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and Mendelssohn's Concert Overture A calm sea and a prosperous voyage. Mendelssohn died of cerebral apoplexy in 1847.
 

Translation: Timothy Alan Shaw