Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn

As musical prodigies, Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn received the same education, but according to societal convention only Felix could be allowed a professional musical career. But Fanny still continued to create, albeit for many years overlooked and overshadowed by the successes of her four years younger brother. Sheila Hayman, documentary filmmaker and also the great-granddaughter of Fanny Mendelssohn's granddaughter, uncovers the story of a modern woman in many ways who just happened to live 200 years ago. And then we get to hear the pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason perform the Easter Sonata and the riddle of the work's origin gets its final solution. When the sonata was rediscovered in 1971, it was attributed to Felix, "because something so talented could not have been composed by a woman". However, several years of research have determined that the sonata was undoubtedly composed by the then 22-year-old Fanny.