Felix Mendelssohn composed three concertos for piano and orchestra, all of them in minor keys, and gave the first performance of each himself – a natural role for a musician who had dazzled audiences as a pianist since childhood. This disc brings together the youthful A minor Concerto for piano and strings of 1822 with the two mature concertos, No.1 in G minor, Op.25, and No.2 in D minor, Op.40, works of fire, lyricism and effortless brilliance. Ronald Brautigam is the soloist, partnered by the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam under Lev Markiz. Their crisp, energetic playing shows why these concertos remain among the most engaging of the early Romantic era.