This is a dazzling performance of the Octet, in just the right way: that is to say, the virtuosity is never self-regarding but serves to clarify and to illuminate. The double quartet textures are beautifully clear throughout, whether in the balance between tremolo and syncopated inner parts and the striding melodies or in the alternation of singing phrases with dancing semiquavers: Mendelssohn makes, of course, out of these exquisitely heard contrasts the substance of the first and second subjects of his opening Allegro (moderato ma con fuoco, he qualifies it). The hurtling eight-part octave unison precipitating the recapitulation is superbly handled; and so is the famous Scherzo (the delicacy and precision of the viola is not the least important contribution here).
The lightness and the deft phrasing of the closing pages of detached semiquavers are delightfully done. The speed of the final Presto sounds at first impossible: it is marvellously exciting, and though there is the sense of risk proper to all good music-making, there is no feeling of unease; moreover, the speed justifies itself when the Scherzo returns at its proper pace. This performance is in every way a delight.
The Quintet of the following year makes an excellent complement, and those who choose the record for the Octet will surely be delighted to encounter a work that, at any rate in the so-called Intermezzo, touches on a graver note. The recording is beautifully lucid, as it needs to be. Much recommended.'