Big Birthday Year

It should be an interesting bicentennial year. On February 12, the country will celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. If you are in Washington, be sure to stop by the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition about the president. (Read the New York Times review).

While a ton has been written about Lincoln's administration and legacy, one bicentennial baby that has gotten short shrift, in our opinion, is Felix Mendelssohn. Why is this the case? Well, according to The Mendelssohn Project, a non-profit devoted to resurrecting the composer's music,"The brightly shining Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy firmament was almost totally eclipsed by the creeping nightmare of anti-Semitism, intolerance and ignorance shortly after the composer's death in the mid-19th century."

Intriguing, right? There is much more to the story. (Check out TMP website and Norman Lebrecht's article that came out yesterday). Better yet, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Mendelssohn Project will be co-presenting a concert chock-full of world premieres. Mendelssohn: Lost Treasures and the Wagner Supression will be performed on January 28. Performers include the Shanghai Quartet and pianists Orion Weiss and Anna Polonsky. This is sure to be one of our hot tickets this season, so buy your ticket in advance.