Orchestra Of St. Luke's Performs MENDELSSOHN THE PRODIGY

St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the musical core of Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL), concludes this season's signature Chamber Music Series with a spring program, Mendelssohn the Prodigy, showcasing the depth of the young Mendelssohn's extraordinary talent. The Ensemble will perform his Violin Concerto in D Minor and Octet for Strings, Op. 20 on April 28 at the Brooklyn Museum, April 30 at Merkin Hall, and May 1 at The Morgan Library.

Felix Mendelssohn was already recognized as a child prodigy when he composed his Octet for Strings, one of his best known and most frequently performed works, at the age of 16. In later life Mendelssohn would declare the String Octet "my favorite of all my compositions...I had a most wonderful time in the writing of it!" The Octet for Strings is paired with another work composed in the early years of Mendelssohn's prolific career, the rarely heard Violin Concerto in D Minor. Written when Mendelssohn was only 13, the obscure work was "rediscovered" in the early 1950s when the manuscript was presented by the Mendelssohn family to Yehudi Menuhin, who quickly published and recorded the work.

Individual tickets start at $40 (April 28) and $50 (April 30 and May 1) and details are available here.