Editing Felix Mendelssohn (section)

===Performer===
During his lifetime, Mendelssohn became renowned as a keyboard performer, both on the piano and organ. One of his obituarists noted: "First and chiefest we esteem his pianoforte-playing, with its amazing elasticity of touch, rapidity, and power; next his scientific and vigorous organ playing&nbsp;[...] his triumphs on these instruments are fresh in public recollection.{{sfn|Brown|2003|p=202}} In his concerts and recitals Mendelssohn performed works by some of his German predecessors, notably [[Carl Maria von Weber]], Beethoven and J.S. Bach,{{sfn|Brown|2003|pp=206, 211–216, 222}} whose organ music he brought back into the repertoire "virtually alone".{{sfn|Stanley|2004|p=148}}

Mendelssohn admired the grand pianos of the Viennese maker [[Conrad Graf]]; he acquired one in 1832 which he used in the family house and recitals in Berlin, and later another for use in Düsseldorf.{{sfn|Todd|1991|p=279}} In private and public performances, Mendelssohn was celebrated for his [[improvisation (music)|improvisations]]. On one occasion in London, when asked by the soprano [[Maria Malibran]] after a recital to extemporise, he improvised a piece which included the melodies of all the songs she had sung. The music publisher Victor Novello, who was present, remarked "He has done some things that seem to me impossible, even after I have heard them done."{{sfn|Todd|2003|pp=282–283}} At another recital in 1837, where Mendelssohn played the piano for a singer, Robert Schumann ignored the soprano and wrote "Mendelssohn accompanied like a God."{{sfn|Brown|2003|p=217}}