Genius Proclaimed

Jul 23, 09:58 PM

The ebullient Bruce Adolphe fashioned a perfect introduction to the next phase of Music@Menlo’s exploration of the genius of Felix Mendelssohn: the season’s second Encounter on Thursday evening, “Intuition, Intellect, and Insects: Felix and the Fireflies,” uncorked the effervescence of the vintage Mendelssohn scherzo, as heard in such works as the Opus 18 Quintet (demonstrated with gusto by members of the Pacifica and St. Lawrence String Quartets) and Opus 20 Octet. Both of these works—each composed before Mendelssohn’s eighteenth birthday—will be offered on Friday evening (for one night only!) on the festival’s second concert program, “Genius Proclaimed” (8:00 p.m., Menlo Park Presbyterian Church).

Also on Friday, violinist Joseph Swensen leads the summer’s third master class (12:00 p.m., Stent Family Hall), as the young artists of the Chamber Music Institute’s International Program prepare Louis Spohr’s Opus 65 Octet for the evening’s Prelude Performance (6:00 p.m., Menlo Park Presbyterian Church).