Felix Mendelssohn was an excellent pianist and could have been a leading soloist. His financial independence allowed him to dedicate himself to composing, however, and the importance of his works in the history of musical Romanticism is beyond question. The Fantasy on ‘The Last Rose of Summer’ has the nature of a dreamy Irish ballad, while the Trois Fantaisies ou Caprices was considered by Mendelssohn to be ‘three of my best piano pieces’. The blend of the tradition of Bach and technical complexity in the Variations sérieuses is one of the composer’s most admired works for piano, rounding out an album of repertoire that reveals some of the most original characteristics of Mendelssohn’s art.

Shihyun Lee is a Korean pianist who won the 1st Prize in the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition and the Special Prize for her interpretation of the commissioned work. She also won the 3rd Prize and the Special Prize for contemporary music in the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn. Shihyun made her debut with the Berliner Konzerthaus Orchestra and has extensive experience as a soloist with various orchestras. She obtained her bachelor’s degree at Seoul National University and has been a student of Prof. Markus Groh at the Universität der Künste Berlin since 2014. Shihyun has been supported in her studies with scholarships from various foundations.