Mendelssohn's Dazzling Italy

An ardent Mozart admirer, Tchaikovsky paid him homage with Variations on a Rococo Theme, a work of irresistible charm and elegance, throughout which the cello declaims with astonishing eloquence. Mendelssohn returned from his trip to Italy bearing a multitude of sketches, which he reimagined in his radiant Symphony no. 4, a work driven by the sprightly rhythms of the saltarello and tarantella.