Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 / Rattle, Berliner Philharmoniker
Berlin Philharmoniker
CD with Blu-Ray
$128.99May 13, 2016
It is always a milestone in the artistic work of the Berliner Philharmoniker when, together with their chief conductor, they play the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven. Under the direction of chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle, the cycle was performed at the end of 2015 – in Berlin, Paris, Vienna and New York. The reaction was overwhelming, and audiences responded with standing ovations to performances which impressively revealed the virtuosity and revolutionary energy of the works. The recording of the Berlin performances is now available in an exclusive hardcover edition which includes the cycle on CD as well as in HD video and high-resolution audio on Blu-ray. This beautifully produced edition includes many extras including a video introduction with Sir Simon Rattle and a documentary about the making of the recordings.
Beethoven: Piano Concerto Op 61a; Mozart / Peter Serkin
RCA
CD
$17.99Jan 30, 2008
*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***
Beethoven expended little effort over arranging his Violin Concerto for piano. He left the orchestration intact, reproduced the solo part more or less verbatim, and added just enough left-hand accompaniment to keep the soloist interested. Although he didn't provide cadenzas for the violinist, Beethoven left the pianist four from which to choose, including a wild fantasia that culminates in petulant exchanges between piano and timpani. Perhaps this concoction always will remain a curio, yet a few recent recordings elevate Op. 61a to a genuine work of stature--most notably the stylish, virile, and committed Suk/Baley (TNC) and Berezovsky/Dausgaard (Simax). So does this remarkable 1969 Peter Serkin/Seiji Ozawa collaboration, but in a completely different manner.
They consistently emphasize breadth and lyricism, and justify their uncommonly slow first-movement tempo by virtue of focused, impeccably accented phrasing that is rhythmically precise yet so vibrant and full-bodied that nothing ever sounds static or rigid. Certainly the robust sonics help, along with the New Philharmonia Orchestra's warm, responsive, and songful execution. It's all too easy for a pianist to reduce the sparse piano writing to surface tinkling, yet even Serkin's most delicate nuances and rounded cadences convey firmness and a sure sense of direction--all the more reason to welcome ArkivMusic.com's on-demand reissue of this long overlooked and underrated recording in a rare Japanese RCA reprint. You can obtain it coupled with the Serkin/Ozawa Schoenberg Piano Concerto, or as here: alongside the pianist's sparkling, cultured, and wittily nuanced Mozart F major K. 459 concerto, featuring like-minded support from the English Chamber Orchestra under Alexander Schneider's shapely and sensitive direction. Booklet notes are in Japanese only, but given such revelatory music making, who cares?
Beethoven, Haydn: Piano Concertos / Argerich, London Sinfonietta
RCA
CD
$17.99Aug 30, 2012
*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***
...the two 1980 concerto performances she made, as director/pianist, with the London Sinfonietta. Of the two it’s the Haydn that is the more immediately appealing, not that the Beethoven is disappointing, with its lissom drive, rhythmic verve and incision in the outer movements and a penetrating stillness and beauty of tone in the slow movement with its superbly realised cadenza.
-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International reviewing these performances previously released as RCA 98836
For music lovers, some numbers are inextricably linked to a particular composer or genre: with Beethoven, it is 32, the number of piano sonatas with opus numbers. Three sonatas in minor keys have been selected from opuses comprising several independent works by Tamás Érdi, of whose playing Zoltán Kocsis said: "His touch on the keyboard is far more sensitive than that of sighted people. In his playing, in certain dynamic ranges there is a sensitivity that for us is simply not possible. I would go so far as to say that this ability could be gauged as Chopinesque." Pianist Tamás Érdi lost his eyesight as a result of an oxygen overdose in a defective incubator. His interest in music was discovered at a very young age. His teachers use a unique method called "the structural method" to teach Tamás play the piano, whereby he virtually "recomposes" the music he is introduced to.
In the year of Leonard Bernstein’s centenary, Sony Classical is pleased to present the perfect introduction to this legendary American musician. Many of the conductor-composer’s most celebrated interpretations and works are sampled on two CDs, every track chosen to display a facet of his unparalleled dynamism and versatility.
There is music by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Mahler, Shostakovich and Copland on the first disc, with great soloists like clarinettist Benny Goodman and mezzo Frederica von Stade, violinists Joshua Bell and Zino Francescatti, pianists Glenn Gould and Philippe Entremont, not to mention Bernstein himself playing and conducting Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Writing about these benchmark 1960s and 1970s New York interpretations, The Guardian’s reviewer declared: “There’s a raw ebullience to the performances that is typical of Bernstein at his best … They are all historic performances.”
Bernstein the composer is represented by a generously filled second disc. “Few composers capture their time and become the iconic voice of their age,” wrote conductor John Mauceri, in a tribute to his late mentor, one of a handful of figures in the 20th century who truly changed the face of music. In addition to highlights from concert works such as the Age of Anxiety, Serenade and Mass, there are selections from Bernstein’s ballets and musicals, including excerpts from the original Broadway cast recording of West Side Story from 1957 as well as his later New York Philharmonic recording of the “Symphonic Dances”.
Bernstein’s friend and colleague, composer Ned Rorem, summed up Leonard Bernstein’s achievement admirably when he said in 1987: “If he were not a composer he would not be the world’s best conductor. Alone among conductors he knows that the essence of music is not what it sounds like, but what the sounds are intended to communicate. Since he too is a composer, he knows that the magic lies not in the communication of sound, but in the sound of communication."
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 / Uchida, Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic
Berlin Philharmoniker
CD + Blu-Ray
$69.99Feb 01, 2019
There is hardly a better way to approach Ludwig van Beethoven than through his piano concertos. Beethoven’s own instrument was the piano, and in his improvisations – which made him the darling of the Viennese salons – he merged virtuosity and unbridled expression. The piano concertos give a clear idea of these performances. At the same time, they are prime examples of Beethoven’s ability to create large orchestral works with seemingly endless arcs of tension. The complete recording of all five works with Mitsuko Uchida and Sir Simon Rattle was one of the most spectacular projects of the Berliner Philharmoniker during the Rattle era – and at the same time the highlight of the collaboration between the orchestra and the pianist, which began in 1984. The performances were given a rapturous reception in the auditorium and in the press – as one critic wrote, the audience was overwhelmed by a “collective sense of happiness”. With vibrant freshness, the performances brought the whole combative energy of these works to life. At the same time, they revealed Beethoven’s incomparable spirituality, which – according to Mitsuko Uchida – “allows us to see to the end of the universe”.
-----
REVIEW:
Uchida takes enormous care over articulation, clarity, voicing and dynamics. And this is true in the simplest passages as well as the most virtuoso. Uchida’s fastidious articulateness makes every stitch count, yet her phrasing is generous, so the detail always remains in its rightful place as part of a larger unfolding. What’s most valuable about these performances, I think, is their exploration of the music’s dramatic potential.
OehmsClassics presents volume 10 of the complete Beethoven sonata cycle. In 1976, Michael Korstick traveled to the United States to study at Julliard. He became known as “Dr. Beethoven” and ever since, experts have agreed that Michael Korstick is one of the most important German pianists of our time. The first volume of this series won the “Discovery of the Year” award given by German record critic, Joachim Emperor. Volumes 2 and 4 won this award as well as the MIDEM classical award.
Bertrand de Billy - ORF Radio Symphonieorchester Wien
Oehms Classics
CD
$31.99Jun 14, 2019
This new release features the complete symphonic recordings of OehmsClassics with Bertrand de Billy and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2010 when Bertrand de Billy was Chief Conductor in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy was born in Paris where he studied music. Starting as a member of an orchestra, he soon took on conducting. 1993-95 he was first Kapellmeister and Deputy Music Director at the Anhaltisches Theatre in Dessau, 1996-98 he held the same position at the Vienna Volksoper. 1999-2004 he was Music Director at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and 2002-2010 he was Music Director of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna. Bertrand de Billy is principal guest of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (2013-2016). Since 2014/2015 he is also principal guest conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie.
Gunter Wand conducts Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-9
Sony Masterworks
CD
$24.98May 25, 2018
Sony Classical is pleased to announce another ten releases in its increasingly comprehensive series of Classical Masters. These new budget-priced releases contain classic recordings, many of them newly remastered, by some of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. Once again, the series offers cornerstones of the symphonic repertoire, including two complete cycles. In the late 1980s, Günter Wand, one of the most respected interpreters of the Austro-German repertoire, recorded all the Beethoven symphonies with his Hamburg Radio (NDR) Symphony Orchestra. It is still a benchmark. Reviewing the complete cycle a few years ago, ClassicsToday.com wrote: “This is one of the most consistent of all modern Beethoven editions, capped by a Ninth that stands among the select performances of that work on disc … One of the things that makes these performances so special is Wand’s ability to create a truly athletic feeling of movement at any tempo, and in order to do that he has to pay attention not just to tiny details, but also to larger phrases and musical paragraphs … The Fifth Symphony has all of the grit and grandeur that Beethoven intended … the funeral march in the “Eroica” is one of the most noble on disc … the “Pastoral” captures the music’s earthiness and rusticity with memorable fidelity … Exceptionally well recorded, this Beethoven cycle belongs in every serious collection.”
For this sixth volume in Quartetto di Cremona’s exploration of the complete Beethoven String Quartets, the ensemble tackles the String Quartet in A major, Op. 18, No. 5, and the String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130, pairing an early piece and a late piece to give some insight into the composer’s development. In both of these compositions, Beethoven’s incorporation of folk music can be seen. In other aspects, these two works are vastly different, the earlier showing his enthusiastic and uplifting style, and the later showing his passionate and sometimes brooding methods. Quartetto di Cremona has been internationally lauded for their “extremely mature and lyrical sound.” (Strad) The group formed at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona in 2000, and since then has acquired an extensive repertoire.
A genuinely great instrumentalist who certainly left his mark on the music world was cellist Heinrich Schiff, who died last year and is not adequately represented in recordings. He can be heard here in his full-on vigorous musicality with a partner who is unusually his equal, in three major works of the cello repertoire, the Sonata op. 40 by Shostakovich, the middle sonata by Beethoven and the last one by Brahms. The Austrian cellist and conductor, Heinrich Schiff, began playing piano when he was 6, and took up cello at the age of 10. His major teachers with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra, with whom he shares the qualities of a lean, centered, yet singing tone and a lyrical approach to the instrument.studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra. He studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky, one of the great conducting teachers of the time. Heinrich Schiff played the famous "Mara" Stradivarius made in 1711 and "Sleeping Beauty" made by Montagnana in Venice in 1739.
Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) was one of the most respected pianists of the 20th century. Known for his depth of interpretation, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire, he is possibly the most popular Russian pianist of recent generations. He gave his first recital in 1934 at the Engineers Club of Odessa, three years before he began formally studying piano. He is now an icon for record collectors. Included in this new release from DOREMI are Beethoven works from broadcasts recorded in 1963, 1973, and 1986. These live performances are presented here in excellent remastered sound. All items presented on this album are first release ever.
Past & Present - Beethoven: Complete Variations & Sonatas For Cello & Piano
Sono Luminus
CD
$26.99Sep 29, 2009
Complete variations for cello and piano – 2 complete performances on modern and period instruments.
GRAMMY award winning pianist Lambert Orkis and Principal cellist for the National Symphony Orchestra, David Hardy, have delivered an entirely new way to hear this spectacular repertoire. This 4 disc set provides the listener with 2 completely different listening experiences for these pieces. First, the works are performed as they are most often heard in performance today, on a modern piano and the cello strung with steel strings. Next, the listener is transported into the time that the works were originally written with a second complete performance on 3 period correct forte pianos, and with the cello now strung with traditional gut strings.
The difference in tone colors is not the only contrast between the two interpretations of these Beethoven masterworks. Both performers, are each masters of modern and period performance practice, and they both adjust performance practice and interpretations in the two versions. That also contribute to the accompanying notes for the album.
Beethoven: Trios for Clarinet, Cello & Piano / Le Sage, Meyer, Bohorquez
Alpha
CD
$20.99Aug 24, 2018
With this new series entitled ‘Salon de musique’, Alpha presents recordings made by artists who have enlivened the Fesival of Salon de Provence for some years now: the pianist Eric le Sage, who has made many recordings for Alpha, the clarinettist Paul Meyer, and others. With cellist Claudio Bohórquez, they have now recorded two Beethoven trios. By 1798, the year Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Trio for piano, clarinet and cello op.11, he was already well-known in Vienna as a remarkable improviser and an ambitious young composer. The piece was clearly aimed at the enlightened aristocracy, as well as competent musical amateurs. This did not prevent the critics, though universally positive, from judging the score to be over-complex in places. Dedicated to the Empress Marie-Theresa of Austria, the Septet was published in 1802 by Hofmeister, and upon being well-received it was then rearranged for various combinations. Beethoven himself made a version for clarinet, cello and piano, op.38 in E Flat major – the one recorded here.
