Mendelssohn in Leipzig and Verbier

The Mendelssohn celebrations in Leipzig are getting underway in earnest this month, and my old friend Brendan Carroll is off to sample the scrumptious offerings. Brendan enjoys scrumptiousness, being a great bon viveur and a true gourmand as befits Korngold's greatest devotee, so he's in for a treat. If I ask him very, very nicely, he may share his impressions with us on his return.

The Mendelssohn-Festtage Leipzig offers concerts in Mendelssohn's own salon and in the Thomaskirche, Bach's old stamping ground not far away; piano recitals and choral works feature as appropriate. And at the Gewandhaus, the modern home of the orchestra that Mendelssohn used to conduct, the month from 21 August to 19 September is packed with unmissable events if you are within beam-me-up-Scottie distance. Performers with the orchestra include Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with violinist Daniel Hope (22 August), Riccardo Chailly with Maurizio Pollini (30 August), a recreation of Mendelssohn's first concert at the Gewandhaus, conducted by Trevor Pinnock (5 September) and of course Elijah under Kurt Masur (17 & 18 September).

The series also includes a farewell concert by the Beaux Arts Trio (23 August), an idea which brings such a lump to my throat that I don't think I could bear to go even if I could - I should be in Berlin then, but that's another tale. I learned the Mendelssohn trios (by ear, that is) in my teens from the Beaux Arts recordings and the ensemble's pianist Menahem Pressler - who is the Beaux Arts Trio, really - is one of my great musical heroes. I was overjoyed to meet and interview the current ensemble, with Daniel Hope and cellist Antonio Meneses, in Berlin a few years ago, and discovered that Pressler had more energy at 82 than most of the rest of us rolled into one.

Their classic Mendelssohn D minor Trio recording featured, of course, Isidor Cohen on the violin and Bernard Greenhouse on the cello - the trio's longest-serving line-up. And the other week I encountered Greenhouse in Verbier, where he was giving masterclasses at the festival academy. Wow. If we thought Pressler was energetic at 82, well, that was only the beginning. Greenhouse is 93. And if I had been the young cellist playing Bach to him that morning I'd have been quaking in my sandals. The rigour, the sharpness of ear, the unstinting devotion to getting it right... Fierce, determined and unsparing, all of it in the service of Bach. Well, no wonder he is still going strong.

In Verbier some very rare Mendelssohn works also had airings in the best performances you could imagine... but more of that next time.

• The Mendelssohn Fesival Web site.
• Picture, Gewandhaus bei Nacht, by dierk schaefer. Used under licence.