Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony

Felix Mendelssohn loved Birmingham – but his travels didn’t stop here, and when he visited Italy for the first time his heart leaped for joy. His sun-kissed ‘Italian’ symphony is the exuberant climax to a whole afternoon of genius off the leash: whether Mozart’s majestic piano concerto, or the windswept energy of the composer they called the “female Beethoven”: Louise Farrenc.