This concert offers a moving portrait of the profound bond between Fanny Hensel and her brother Felix Mendelssohn—a relationship of deep musical collaboration and mutual mentorship. Fanny was Felix’s “Minerva,” whose wisdom and discerning advice shaped his compositions. The siblings grew up studying with the same teachers and were deeply influenced by J.S. Bach. Fanny’s salon became a cultural hub, but her music was rarely published due to the social constraints on women of her time. Felix, by contrast, enjoyed public acclaim and even published some of Fanny’s songs under his own name. He later revealed to Queen Victoria that her beloved “Italien” was actually Fanny’s composition. Their connection endured until the end: Fanny died of a stroke at 41, and Felix, grief-stricken, died just six months later.
