Jonathan O'Neill’s Reviews > Mendelssohn: A Life in Music > Status Update
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 145 of 736
During an 1825 trip to Paris, Felix was not impressed with the music scene. A 14-yr-old Liszt's glittery improvisations were "wretched", inflated with vapid scales; Franzi possessed many fingers but meager mental faculties. Camille Pleyel, who took unconscionable liberties with Mozart and "Great Maestro Windbag" (Rossini) fare no better. Habeneck's conducting, unconvincing. The Opera, feeble and monochromatic...
— Jul 07, 2025 07:35AM
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Jonathan’s Previous Updates
Jonathan O'Neill
is 92% done
"...may you taste only the sweets and none of the bitterness of authorship... may the public pelt you with roses, and never with sand; and may the printer's ink never draw black lines upon your soul"
- Felix to Fanny
Finally, after he had discouraged her from publishing throughout their entire lives, Fanny went and did it anyway and asking one last time for his blessing, Felix comes around.
— Jan 06, 2026 04:09AM
- Felix to Fanny
Finally, after he had discouraged her from publishing throughout their entire lives, Fanny went and did it anyway and asking one last time for his blessing, Felix comes around.
Jonathan O'Neill
is 87% done
[Felix] has a glorious dark eye, and Byron's expression of a 'dome of thought' could never be more appropriately applied than to his lofty and intellectual forehead...
...Dark, lustrous, unfathomable eyes... They were black, but without the usual opaqueness of black eyes, shining, not with a surface light, but with a pure, serene, planetary flame.
- J.Bayard Taylor
— Jan 04, 2026 04:50AM
...Dark, lustrous, unfathomable eyes... They were black, but without the usual opaqueness of black eyes, shining, not with a surface light, but with a pure, serene, planetary flame.
- J.Bayard Taylor
Jonathan O'Neill
is 78% done
[Wagner played] the seductive Venusberg theme from Tannhauser, on which he was then at work. When Felix asked, "What is that?" Wagner replied, "Do you think I am going to reveal it to you?" whereupon Felix at once reproduced it himself at the piano.
— Jan 01, 2026 07:39PM
Jonathan O'Neill
is 74% done
I'm thankful that, while this is very much a Felix bio, the author gives Fanny a notable amount of page time as well, following her progress as a composer and illuminating derivatives between her and her brother's works where applicable.
Her 'Das Jahr' is well worth your time. A cycle of piano character pieces on the 12 months. Some beauties in there, for sure!
— Dec 30, 2025 04:50AM
Her 'Das Jahr' is well worth your time. A cycle of piano character pieces on the 12 months. Some beauties in there, for sure!
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 395 of 736
Proud to announce that Felix was my Top Artist on Spotify this year with 15217 minutes listened! :D
I'm not sure that tops my Beethoven listening from several years ago but it still puts me in the top 0.001% of global fans.... Let's be honest, no one on Earth listened to more Mendelssohn than me this year! :D
— Dec 03, 2025 07:15PM
I'm not sure that tops my Beethoven listening from several years ago but it still puts me in the top 0.001% of global fans.... Let's be honest, no one on Earth listened to more Mendelssohn than me this year! :D
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 394 of 736
At one musical matinée given by Felix, Liszt appeared in Hungarian uniform and played a series of pyrotechnical variations on a Hungarian folk melody. Then, insisting his host reciprocate, Liszt watched incredulously as Felix replicated the Hungarian melody, executed one variation after another, and managed to imitate Liszt's "movements and raptures" without offending him.
"Hold my beer."
- Mendelssohn
— Oct 06, 2025 03:42AM
"Hold my beer."
- Mendelssohn
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 372 of 736
Schumann and Mendelssohn were largely responsible for the 19th-century Schubert revival. Schumann discovered several unpublished symphonies and Felix took the decision, and the time, to resuscitate the "Great" symphony (no.9) and "effectively transformed Schubert from a respected "ballad" composer to a symphonist of stature".
— Sep 23, 2025 04:24AM
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 330 of 736
On Fanny's birthday Felix praised her new compositions and... later alluded to some in his own piano miniatures but could not bring himself to support her entering the lists as a "professional" composer. This issue would haunt the final ten years of Fanny's life.
Fanny: "It's crucial to have your consent, for without it I might not undertake anything of the kind."
— Sep 03, 2025 05:30AM
Fanny: "It's crucial to have your consent, for without it I might not undertake anything of the kind."
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 264 of 736
The first 6 'Lieder ohne Worte' (Op.19b) were released in Bonn in late 1833, the official debut of the new term, and indeed new genre, which would become synonomous with Mendelssohnism.
— Aug 17, 2025 05:31AM
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 238 of 736
Disappointed with Felix's reaction to the music of Hector Berlioz. I knew this already from Berlioz's memoirs but, having now read a bit about Felix, his dislike/dismissal of B's work seem at odds with his generally open-minded and sponge-like nature regarding all types of music.
Though he enjoyed international success, I don't think the musical world was fully ready for some of Berlioz's more radical innovations...
— Jul 22, 2025 07:08AM
Though he enjoyed international success, I don't think the musical world was fully ready for some of Berlioz's more radical innovations...
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These composers sure did rip into each other, and that was without a social media platform.You seem to be having fun with this one, Jonathan.
Cheers from CB
Didn't they, Col! Felix is only 16 here (though probably with a more developed mind than myself at 37! :D) so you might expect less of a filter, but you're right, they all did it. I remember he had some choice words about Berlioz when he was a bit older and Berlioz adored him. :( :DThis is really great so far. Learning a lot!
Was ist ihm da für eine Laus über die Leber gelaufen? I think Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was peeved because Franzi Liszt was a skilled piano player at 14. He was two years his senior.
Ebba Simone wrote: "Was ist ihm da für eine Laus über die Leber gelaufen? I think Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was peeved because Franzi Liszt was a skilled piano player at 14. He was two years his senior."Love it - just through a random comment I've learned a new German idiom = jmdm. ist eine Laus über die Leber gelaufen. Why was he so peeved?
Sorry Jonathan, just bear with me while I answer Ebba.
Yes, Ebba. Was ist ihm so auf den Keks gegangen?
CB
Ebba Simone wrote: "Was ist ihm da für eine Laus über die Leber gelaufen? I think Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was peeved because Franzi Liszt was a skilled piano player at 14. He was two years his senior."🤣 Maybe, Ebba, maybe! Though I find it hard to imagine such a supreme genius as Felix at 16 being jealous or put off by another's skills at the piano. Particularly as he was a master of the instrument himself among an abundance of other things. Perhaps Liszt's virtuosic playing still needed refinement at this stage??... Maybe 😆
Colin wrote: "Ebba Simone wrote: "Was ist ihm da für eine Laus über die Leber gelaufen? I think Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was peeved because Franzi Liszt was a skilled piano player at 14. He was two years his ..."Comment 'til your hearts are content my German-speaking friends! 😁
Jonathan wrote: "Colin wrote: "Ebba Simone wrote: "Was ist ihm da für eine Laus über die Leber gelaufen? I think Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was peeved because Franzi Liszt was a skilled piano player at 14. He was ..."I'm not sure my response in German was 100% correct, but I try my best!
Back to Mendelssohn...
CB
Hallo Collin, es ist eine eher alte Redewendung. Ich habe sie genommen, weil Jahr 1825. Sie wird aber noch benutzt. Ich schicke dir einen Link zur Bedeutung.
Danke, Jonathan! 😁 Hearts are content now.
Ebba Simone wrote: "Danke, Jonathan! 😁 Hearts are content now."👌😁
Felix seems to have been grumpily picky.
Nataliya wrote: "Felix seems to have been grumpily picky."He seems to have been a pretty reasonable and generous young dude until this little trip to Paris. I find the negative commentary on Liszt a little premature given he's only 14 (mind you, only 2 years younger than Mendelssohn at the time), but everything else I'd be inclined to say he's on the money. There are accounts from other big time composers that consolidate his thoughts and I think, more than anything, this strong reaction is Felix struggling to reconcile the frivolous, kind of Early 19th Century "Pop", French taste in Music with his upbringing on all the good stuff. I mean the Parisians didn't think much of Bach, they gave Beethoven nowhere near the attention he was due and when they played Mozart and Weber, they corrupted them with all sorts of tasteless improvisations. I say, grump on, young Felix, I'm with you! 😁
Ebba Simone wrote: "Hallo Collin, es ist eine eher alte Redewendung. Ich habe sie genommen, weil Jahr 1825. Sie wird aber noch benutzt. Ich schicke dir einen Link zur Bedeutung."Habe es bekommen. Danke!
CB
So that makes at least Mendelssohn, Schumann and Berlioz who believed that the Parisian music of the time paled in comparison to what was coming out of Germany. Berlioz thought much the same of Italian music as well. Interestingly, Felix notes that, to his disgust, the Parisians were largely ignorant of Beethoven. In 1825 he attended a performance of a "nouvelle Sinfonie de Beethoven". In actual fact, the "novelty" was just the 2nd symphony which premiered in Vienna in 1803!