9/16: CIM Faculty Recital

Mendelssohn’s two string quintets don’t quite bookend his career, since he wrote well-known works before and after them, including the popular oratorio Elijah. But they do fall near the beginning and end of his too-short repertoire. The first string quintet was written when the composer was just 17 years old and fuels the argument that he was even more prodigious than Mozart in his early compositions. The second was written when Mendelssohn was 36, just two years before his death. Both are bright, cheery and rhythmically clear works that, even in the Romantic era, would have been considered old-school. Violinists Annie Fullard and Paul Cantor are joined by violist Jeffrey Irvine and Cleveland Institute of Music students in a performance of the two quintets that celebrates the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth. It starts at 8 p.m. at CIM’s Mixon Recital Hall (11021 East Blvd., 216.791.5000). It’s free, but a seating pass is required. — Michael Gill