Penguin Guide 3 stars; Hi-Fi News: outstanding. Between 1821 and 1823 the young Felix Mendelssohn composed thirteen symphonies for strings, which were played at the family's Sunday concerts in Berlin. Modelled on Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart and C.P.E. Bach, they nevertheless reveal an unmistakably personal voice and an astonishing technical command. This first volume traces his rapid development, from the energetic Second Symphony with its gigue-like finale and the terse Third, to the more modern Ninth with its festive slow introduction and the single-movement Tenth in B minor, with its serious Adagio and turbulent Allegro. The New Sinfonietta Amsterdam, founded in 1988, is conducted by Lev Markiz, a former leader of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra.