Among the opera performances that deserve to be labeled “historic” is the opening night of the new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio unveiled at the Vienna State Opera on 5 November 1955. The accolade is deserved not least because this was the first time that the curtain had gone up in the rebuilt house since wartime bombing raids had reduced it to rubble at the end of the Second World War.
Of course, this says nothing about the musical quality of the occasion, but the present live recording, released to coincide with the start of the new regime under Dominique Meyer and Franz Welser-Möst, allows today’s listeners to judge this quality for themselves. Then, as now, the chorus and orchestra of the Vienna State Opera enjoy the highest reputation and have no equal anywhere else in the world, and under their then director, Karl Böhm, they amply demonstrated their credentials on this gala first night in 1955.
For Böhm, this was the start of a conducting marathon, for the house reopened with no fewer than seven new productions within a matter of only a few days. His Fidelio is notable for its taut and even breathtakingly impulsive tempos, clearly intensifying the impression of a suicide mission on the part of the “angelic Leonore” that Martha Mödl characterized so magnificently throughout this period. Unfortunately listeners can form only a limited impression of her acting, which was every bit as intense as her singing. This was the first time that she had rescued Anton Dermota as her husband, Florestan, his refined singing giving the lie to the widespread belief that the part requires a youthful heldentenor to do it justice. The rest of the cast is likewise made up of legendary names: with her distinctive lyric soprano voice, Irmgard Seefried is almost under-parted as Marzelline, while her father, Rocco, is played by the great bass Ludwig Weber, who only a few days later took on the heroic baritone role of Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten. The villainous Don Pizarro is sung by Paul Schöffler, who that same week shone as Hans Sachs alongside Seefried’s Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. All these singers represent the sort of ensemble spirit that characterizes every great artist and ensures that performances like this one at the Vienna State Opera are always great occasions. - Orfeo
Beethoven & Sibelius: Violin Concertos / Tetzlaff, Ticciati, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin
Ondine
CD
$18.99Sep 13, 2019
In this new concerto album one of the greatest violinists of our time, Christian Tetzlaff, performs two standard violin concertos in fresh new interpretations together with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin directed by the orchestra’s exciting new music director, Robin Ticciati.
Christian Tetzlaff is considered one of the world’s leading international violinists and maintains a most extensive performing schedule. Musical America named him ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ in 2005. His recording of the Bartók Violin Concertos (ODE 1317-2) received both Gramophone and ICMA Awards, and the recording was also a finalist for the BBC Music Award in 2019. His recording of the Violin Concertos by Mendelssohn and Schumann, released on Ondine in 2011 (ODE 1195-2), and Bach Sonatas and Partitas released in 2017 (ODE 1299-2D) received the ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’. In addition, in 2015 ICMA awarded Christian Tetzlaff as the ‘Artist of the Year’, and he also received ECHO ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ award in 2017.
REVIEWS:
Tetzlaff may at times excitedly rush his fences, but in collaboration with Robin Ticciati and his alert Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, he transforms aspects of what so many have treated as a sort of Holy Grail into a beer tankard. If Beethoven’s Concerto emerges as uncompromisingly provocative, Tetzlaff’s Sibelius also errs on the side of danger…In many respects, a real knock-out.
– Gramophone (Editor's Choice)
What I especially admire about these entrancing performances by Tetzlaff is the freshness and vitality he brings so effectively to these masterworks. One senses that he is entirely inside the music emotionally. Throughout both works the sound of Tetzlaff’s violin, a modern instrument made by German luthier Stefan-Peter Greiner, is glorious. Under Robin Ticciati the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin excel with firm and resolute playing in performances which are entirely empathetic to the soloist from start to finish.
The Quartetto di Cremona have chosen for their fourth volume of the Beethoven complete string quartet cycle two works forming a portal within the quartet writing of this composer and Vienna transplant. Beethoven opened his Op. 18 set with the Quartet in F (1798/99), written at the behest of his patron and friend, Prince Lobkowicz. Even within the framework of the traditional form, Beethoven's first published quartet achieved a maximum of moods and stylistic variety. Beethoven's Quartet Op. 131 in c (1826), generally perceived as a peak within his chamber music, is entirely different, much more eccentric and "experimental". Seven sections of diverse tone and character are played without breaks in-between; a brooding fugue stands alongside a sensitive adagio, a folk tune presto is next to a restless finale. Internationally renowned for their "extremely mature and lyrical sound" (Strad), the Quartetto di Cremona grace the stages of the most prestigious venues. Their dedication to their craft is on consistent show through their music-making.
The Lost Recordings has rediscovered the master tapes of this double recital in the archives of Berlin Radio. The label thus offers, as a world premiere, this Beethoven recital by the great Claudio Arrau, recorded on March 12, 1959 at the Hochschule für Muzik in Berlin, totally unpublished, delivering a breathtaking reading of the Farewells, the Appassionata and the Sonata Op. 110. An exceptional document. When Claudio Arrau took the stage of the prestigious Hochschule für Musik in Berlin on 12 March 1959, he was, at 56, an artist at the very peak of his fame and the pinnacle of hispianistic and intellectual powers. Rarely in pieces other than these solo works for piano, where sentimental confession, mystical revery and the constant concern for form are inextricably entwined, did Beethoven so clearly create a dramatic sound setting to depict common mortals grappling with their confused feelings, doubts and existential contemplation.
This truly fantastic live set of the complete Beethoven symphonies plus select overtures as played by the Philharmonia Orchestra in Vienna in 1960 under the direction of the legendary conductor Otto Klemperer has now returned to the Andromeda catalog in completely re-mastered, superb 24bit/96kHz sound, taken directly from the original master tapes. It always a fascinating pastime to compare Klemperer’s live performances with his studio recordings of the identical works from the same period, as these come from around the time of his famous EMI late-‘50s recordings with the same orchestra.
Beethoven: Symphony No 9 / Furtwangler, Schwarzkopf, Cavelti, Haefliger, Edelmann
Audite Musikproduktion
CD
$14.99Nov 18, 2014
Wilhelm Furtwaengler conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony more than 100 times. + In August 1954, three months before his death, he directed his last performance in Lucerne, leading the Philharmonia Orchestra and a stellar cast of soloists (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elsa Cavelti, Ernst Haefliger and Otto Edelmann), which proved to be an "elemental musical event" (Neue Zuercher Zeitung). + For this release, the original tapes from the SRF archives have been newly re-mastered, and crucially, the pitch adjusted, bringing the audio, for the first time, as close to the original as possible.
Louis Lortie plays Beethoven - Complete Piano Sonatas
Chandos
CD
$65.99Oct 26, 2010
Beethoven has always been a part of the concert repertoire of exclusive Chandos artist Louis Lortie, and it rose again to the top of his agenda as he prepared to complete his recorded cycle of the composer's sonatas earlier this year. Sonatas Nos 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31 and 32, newly recorded, will be released for the first time as part of a box set of the entire canon, which will be available at the bargain price of 9 CDs for the price of 3. This box set of the complete piano sonatas is a must for all lovers of Beethoven and great piano playing. The compositions are bold and beautiful, challenging, witty and fresh. They seem to encompass all aspects of human sensibility and aspiration, and the superb playing of Louis Lortie takes the music to another level. His recording of the composer's 'Eroica' Variations, which won an Edison Award, was described by Gramophone in glowing terms: 'His account... is spacious and magisterial, virile yet sensitive, and the wide range of dynamic nuance and keyboard colour is there to illumine Beethoven's textures and not highlight the artist's pianism. He succeeds in communicating the power of Beethoven's imagination: the part-writing in the fugue emerges with a masterly clarity, and is beautifully weighted and balanced.' Highlights among the new recordings are that of the sublime Sonata No. 30, composed in 1820 - 22, which displays all the characteristics of Beethoven's last creative phase: rich harmonic structures, a fascination with intricate counterpoint, and a strict adherence to classical and baroque forms. Also worthy of a separate mention is Sonata No. 22, a veritable study in contrasts. Its two complementary themes - a gracious, dignified 'feminine' theme resembling a minuet, and a stamping, assertive, 'masculine' theme - gradually influence one another in the course of the movement until they become thoroughly integrated and combined in the final passages.
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REVIEWS:
Time and again a faultless pianistic sheen and mastery are allied to the finest musical perception. Here, surely, is vital and living proof that you can maintain an individual and distinctive voice while remaining scrupulously true to the composer. Nothing is forced or rushed, everything is subtly nuanced and phrased beneath an outwardly urbane surface. These are performances to treasure and revisit.
– Gramophone
Lortie seems less interested in metaphysical profundity than in textural stylishness; spending enough time with this set to grasp Lortie's aims and insights is nevertheless genuinely rewarding.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Furtwangler, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Orfeo
CD
$16.99Mar 26, 2013
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony remains to this day the only work that does not belong to the Bayreuth canon – “Wagner’s Ten”, so to speak – and yet has nevertheless been performed on the Green Hill along with them. Both within and without the Bayreuth walls, the performance history of this symphony is associated with no conductor more than with Wilhelm Furtwängler. The opening performance of the first post-War Bayreuth Festival in 1951 was of Beethoven’s Ninth under Furtwängler, and there already exists an Orfeo release based on the original radio broadcast. Several technical hurdles had to be overcome before the performance of 1954 could also be released on CD, however, for none of the accessible sources could be prepared satisfactorily without employing the most modern mastering possibilities. The result is undoubtedly a vital document: both for those interested in the history of the Bayreuth Festival and for those who are enthused by the concurrent continuity and constant change that is a hallmark of Wilhelm Furtwängler’s style of interpretation. This Ninth would be his farewell to Bayreuth and was in fact one of his very last concerts anywhere, for it took place just three months before his death. Its interpretation is more direct and less ceremonial than in earlier recordings under this great conductor. In the last bars of this symphony’s famous choral finale he achieves a climax not just through his scorching pace, but also through a well-nigh breathless intensification of the musical content. The Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra and the solo quartet (led by the Dutch soprano Gré Brouwenstijn, here in magnificent voice) follow the maestro’s beat even here with an unmistakeable sense of tension and the utmost, unrelenting attention. It is surely herein that lies the secret of the fascination that Furtwängler exudes to this day. As perhaps no other conductor he always understood how to avoid the routine in the works that he conducted so many times. Instead he was time and again able to summon up and maintain an awareness of them as something extraordinary and unique: for himself, his fellow musicians and his listeners.
When viewed with the distance of time, the album confirms its importance in the repertoire of the two great artists. The famed tone of Josef Suk’s violin is completely in the composer’s service, the instrument talks and sings, while Panenka’s take on Beethoven still astonishes with its wealth of articulation, purity of style and crystal-clear tone.
As the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth approaches, and following a much-admired version of the Diabelli Variations (Alpha 386 – Gramophone Editor’s Choice), Martin Helmchen has decided to record his complete piano concertos in the company of musical partners with whom he has a special affinity, Andrew Manze and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. They devote this first volume to the Concertos nos. 2 and 5, giving lovingly polished performances of these two masterpieces of the piano repertory. Composed even before Concerto ‘no. 1’, the ‘Second’ Concerto was premiered in Vienna in 1795, when Beethoven was only twenty-five years old, but underwent several revisions before being published in its final version in 1801. Concerto no. 5 is the last that Beethoven composed. Though completed in 1808, it was not premiered until 1811. Beethoven normally gave the first performance of his concertos himself, but this time his increasing deafness meant he was unable to do so.
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REVIEW:
Theirs is to all appearances a straight-down-the-middle approach. Yet it does stand high and proud for its artistry, poetry, stylish musicianship and, perhaps above all, rapport between soloist and conductor. This really does feel like a meeting of minds.
Herbert Blomstedt's Beethoven cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the great ones, as much for the magnificent playing of this finest of all German orchestras as for Blomstedt's effortlessly musical interpretations. The only possible weak link here might be the first movement of the Fifth, which lacks the sheer intensity that, say, Carlos Kleiber brings to it. On the other hand, Blomstedt's more emotionally balanced conception is so well realized that I'm inclined to give him credit for bringing off an unconventional interpretation, particularly as the remainder of the symphony lacks for nothing in excitement or sheer power.
Highlights of this cycle are many: a grand and glorious Eroica, a lithe and lyrical Second and Fourth, a pellucid Sixth with luminous wind playing, an exciting Ninth sporting fantastically buoyant strings in the Scherzo and a marvelously well sung finale, and a transcendentally great performance of the Seventh, with rip-roaring horns and perfect pacing throughout. The recordings, made in Dresden's Lucaskirche in the late 1970s and early '80s, put a silvery sheen around the players (winds especially) and strike an excellent balance between clarity and warmth. At the Brilliant Classics price, you can't afford not to own this set. [6/23/2002] --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com reviewing this set previously released as Brilliant 99927
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Beethoven's nine symphonies -- composed between 1800 and 1824 -- are true cornerstones of the classical canon. Marking an irrefutable turning point in the history of music, they transformed audiences' expectations of the symphony and influenced the genre's future development through their experimental, dramatic and expressive weight. Conductors have long been drawn to the profundity of these works: a complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies is viewed as one of the ultimate challenges in the repertoire, and the performances in this set are undoubtedly among the greatest to have been recorded, illuminating the skill of the Staatskapelle Dresden and Herbert Blomstedt, one of the most distinguished conductors of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The symphonies trace Beethoven's development as a composer, from the earlier works that document his emergence from the Viennese tradition, through to his experimental and critically divisive late style. Particularly famed for its landmark status in the history of music is the 'Eroica' Symphony (No.3), notable for its innovative approach to sonata form and embodiment of Beethoven's 'heroic' style. Also included are the legendary Symphony No.5, known for its distinctive opening motif and rigorous large-scale structure, the dramatic 'Pastoral' Symphony, and the sophisticated Seventh Symphony. The collection is, of course, concluded by the monumental Symphony No.9 -- known as the 'Choral' Symphony because of its ground-breaking, transcendent finale, sung here by the Dresden State Opera Chorus and a group of acclaimed soloists.
Over 30 years after their initial release, these recordings have remained one of the ultimate Beethoven symphony cycles, a testament to the quality of the performances and Blomstedt's interpretations. Brought together in a set of excellent value, this 5-disc collection is a must-have addition to the libraries of classical music fans, old and new.
Other information: - Recordings made in Lucaskirche, Dresden, 1975--1980
Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 1 / Van Baerle Trio
Challenge Classics
SACD
$19.99Feb 16, 2018
Beethoven’s primary reason for settling in Vienna in 1792 was to study with Joseph Haydn, who at the time was widely considered the greatest living composer. Beethoven’s three Piano Trios op. 1 were the first compositions that he deemed important enough to give an opus number. They were dedicated to Prince Karl Lichnowsky, a patron of Beethoven in whose house he lived for some time. According to Beethoven’s lifelong friend Ferdinand Ries, Haydn was complimentary about the set of trios. The trios combine various elements that would have been familiar to Beethoven’s contemporaries. Less familiar, however, would be the fact that the trios contain four movements rather than the three that had been traditional in this genre. Although changes from major to minor had been common in the music of previous generations, where they would normally apply to just the last chord, Beethoven employs this technique more extensively here than was probably common at that time. This recording was made using a Chris Maene Concert Grand built in 2017. This remarkable instrument combines the knowledge and materials used in modern piano building with those found in older historical instruments.
Beethoven: The Late String Quartets Op 127 & 131 / Brentano String Quartet
Aeon
CD
$20.99Oct 11, 2011
Founded in 1992, the New York-based Brentano Quartet is known for its interpretations combining perfect technique and matchless musicality. Those qualities are even more obvious in this series of late Beethoven quartets with this first volume bringing together the Op. 127 and 131. This pure crystal of intelligence and brilliance will doubtless constitute a milestone.
Beethoven's euphoric Symphony No.9, like his symphony No.5, is one of those pieces of classical music which transcends the barrier between musical genres - one of the few pieces of the classical canon in the popular consciousness. Few can fail to be uplifted and caught up in the joyous Ode to Joy finale. For this performance, recorded live at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1994, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment were joined by the renowned conductor and long-time collaborator, Sir Charles Mackerras, a partnership between him and the OAE that lasted almost a quarter of a century. This is Signum's second release with the OAE, following a release of Monteverdi's Vespers (SIGCD237) earlier this year. The next release, planned for December, will feature Sarah Connolly performing Mahler's Totenfier and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the OAE under Vladimir Jurowski.
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No 30, 31, 32 / Mari Kodama
PENTATONE
SACD
$21.99Mar 27, 2012
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players. 3621810.az_BEETHOVEN_Piano_Sonatas_Nos.html
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas: Nos. 30–32 • Mari Kodama (pn) • PENTATONE 5186389 (63:21)
I haven’t been following Mari Kodama’s Beethoven piano sonata cycle—in fact, this is the first disc in the series I’ve heard—but for those who have, this is her seventh installment; all previous ones have been peer reviewed in past issues. I note that colleague Lynn René Bayley’s review of this latest addition to Kodama’s now over two-thirds completed cycle is scheduled to appear in Fanfare 35:6, but since that issue hasn’t been published yet as I write this, I can’t know what Bayley had to say. Not that it matters, of course, since we contributors work independently of each other and often reach quite different conclusions.
For those who have taken note of Kodama’s Beethoven sonata survey, FYI, all but nine of the sonatas have been released. Still to appear are Nos. 11–13, 15, 20, 22, and 27–29. Having never heard Kodama in anything before, I approached her Beethoven as a tabula rasa and I must admit to being very favorably impressed. There’s clarity to her voicing and a lyrical spontaneity to her readings, especially in the opening movements of the E-Major and A?-Major sonatas (Nos. 30 and 31) that catch just the right tone of Beethoven’s poeticized utopian vision.
As regular readers will know, the concluding “Gesangvoll” movement of the E-Major Sonata holds special resonance for me, and it’s usually the touchstone by which I embrace or reject a performance. Kodama does not disappoint. Her broad, stately, quiet, and deeply contemplative statement of the opening theme communicates, as it should, a sense of reverential mystery. Some listeners may perceive Kodama’s tempo as being a bit slow, but it’s more of a perception than reality. She takes 13:12 for the movement compared to Craig Sheppard’s 12:50 and Maurizio Pollini’s 12:37, not that big a difference in a movement of this length. If you want to know what slow really is, try Andrew Rangell at 15:22. I think the perception of Kodama’s capaciousness is more the result of her approach to phrasing than it is to underlying tempo. She has a way of ever-so-slightly hesitating on the brink of cadential resolutions that, for me, gives the music its special otherworldly quality.
When it comes to the Sturm und Drang of the C-Minor Sonata’s first movement, Kodama’s fingers prove to be as nimble as anyone else’s, but I’m not sure she invests the music with the same degree of vehemence and venomous bite as do some others, for example Freddy Kempf, who attacks the Allegro at a faster tempo and with tremendous ferocity in his BIS recording. What worked superbly well for Kodama in the “Gesangvoll” movement of the Sonata No. 30 doesn’t necessarily work to her advantage in the Sonata No. 32. Some of her phrasing choices strike me as slightly distorting of Beethoven’s rhythmic patterns and disrupting to the headlong rush. It’s an interpretive issue, not a technical one.
Overall, I’d rate Kodama’s Beethoven very highly, at least as much as I’ve heard of it, which, so far, is just this one disc. As for the recording, PentaTone’s team of Dutch engineers has done a bang-up job of capturing Kodama’s Steinway D-274 in ringing tone and solid sound. All modern piano recordings should sound this good. If you’ve been collecting Kodama’s Beethoven cycle, there’s no reason to stop now. If you haven’t been collecting it, the only reason I can think of to not start with this latest release is that if you’re like me you prefer to begin at the beginning. But then that could be your cue to go out and acquire all seven discs released so far.
Few works of art - musical or otherwise - are as firmly established in the canon of global culture as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The sheer size and complexity of it is daunting even today, and at the time of its composition it was a highly revolutionary work. Even so, the audience at the first performance, in 1824, was enthusiastic - as audiences have been ever since. Its appeal has not only stood the test of time, however - the Ninth holds significance for people all over the world, regardless of country: the closest we have to a truly universal piece of music. To record such a work is not a task to take lightly. In preparation for the great occasion, Osmo Vänskä and his Minnesota Orchestra paced themselves by recording two previous discs of Beethoven symphonies, both of which have been greeted with great acclaim. 'It's obvious from the first bars of the Eroica that this is something special... these are great interpretations and a true 21st century take on the music...' wrote the reviewer in Classic FM Magazine of recently released BIS-SACD-1516, while Financial Times' critic stated about the same disc: 'I choose my words carefully when I say this is the best recording of Beethoven symphonies since Carlos Kleiber's with the Vienna Philharmonic a generation ago.' The recording of the Ninth was preceded by three concert performances, and the Minnesota Chorale - one of the finest symphonic choirs in the USA - was meticulously prepared for both concerts and recording. The quartet of soloists has been handpicked and gives a final edge to this huge ensemble in the final movement's Ode to Joy, filling it with all the excitement that this exciting music invites. About a previous disc the critic of the web site Classics Today wrote: 'There's no question that Osmo Vänskä is a true Beethoven conductor.' There is also no question that Vänskä's account of the greatest of the Beethoven symphonies is something that must be experienced!
