Deryk Barker [[log in to unmask]] recommends: >This one's easy: L'Archubudelli & the Smithsonian Chamber Players, >playing 8 Strads on Sony. ... Not only that, it is c/w the Octet by >Niels Gade, which may not be the supreme masterpiece the Mendelssohn is, >but it's still a wonderful piece. I don't know anything about recordings of Mendelssohns Oktett, still I think this a witty recommendation, at least for me. The reason is that I love the music of Niels W Gade passionately [and I DO consider him Nielsens like in everything (except maybe treating the symphonic form)], and if I get disappointed with the Mendelssohn as performance, I can always enjoy a piece of Gades splendid music. Mats Norrman [log in to unmask]