“Grand tours” were common rites of passage for wealthy young men in the Romantic era, and Felix Mendelssohn, the son of a prominent financier, was well travelled. His Hebrides Overture and “Scottish” Symphony were inspired by his first visit to Great Britain – belatedly, in the case of the Symphony, which was not completed until 13 years later, although he said that its opening theme came into his mind during a tour of the ruined Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh.

Come for:

Lovely, haunting, tuneful, dancing evocations of the rising hills and sunken caves of Scotland.

And more:

Exuberant young violinist Ray Chen performs the evergreen Concerto that Mendelsssohn wrote for Ferdinand David, his concertmaster at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.