Beethoven alla Brittannia features settings of British, Scottish, Welsh and Irish folk songs arranged by Beethoven. The instrumental selections are in the beloved "theme and variation" form while vocal works are beautiful arrangements of folk tunes with piano that can only come from the great pen of Beethoven himself.

Includes Sonatas no. 8, op. 13, "Pathétique;" no. 17, op. 31/2, "Tempest;" no. 21, op. 53, "Waldstein;" no. 23, op. 57 "Appassionata;" no. 9, op. 14/1; no. 16, op. 31/1; no. 24, op. 78; no. 25, op. 79; no. 26, op. 18a, "Les Adieux;" no. 17, op. 90.

It's time for Beethoven to be recognized as an important part of the young-of-age or -spirit's musical curriculum. Baby Needs Beethoven is an excellent place to start! This release explores all aspects of Beethoven's more introspective work, with music from his symphonies and chamber works to the solo performances for piano. The pieces chosen may be familiar to many, but there are a few lesser-known gems that will be of interest even to the Beethoven connoisseur.

The Auryn Quartet?s second installment in their complete Beethoven cycle for Tacet is just as tremendous as the first, which comprised the Op. 18 set. Once again, the Auryns and Tacet have demonstrated a near ideal partnership between music and technique in which it is absolutely impossible to imagine one without the other. Using two Neumann M49 microphones and working in the Cologne studios of DeutschlandRadio, Andreas Spreer has captured the Auryn performances in a space which, without being dry or claustrophobic, sounds like one of those science fiction continuums where space stretches to fit time. The sound is fine and detailed, the lower strings of the viola and cello have a wonderful grainy quality to them. It?s probably close to what composers hear in their heads when they compose, before they?ve heard the music live for the first time. The Auryn Quartet, which has done a marvelous Schubert cycle for CPO, is not particularly predictable. They are relatively reserved rhetorically, and tend towards moderate to fast-ish speeds (although they can turn it on, as in the upward whoosh at the end of Op. 59 No. 3). What sets them apart is a sense of latent power that creates a superb kind of musical tension. Thomas Seedorf?s liner notes are very good. If you?re wondering, The Quartet took its name from ?the amulet that bestows intuition upon its bearer in Michael Ende?s The Neverending Story. There are other very good Beethoven cycles to be had (and sometimes, it must be admitted, the one you?ve listened to most recently sounds the best), and more on the horizon (including a novel cycle planned by the Miró Quartet who will record the quartets as they reach the age Beethoven was when he wrote them). In the meantime, it looks like the rest of the cycle will be released in the near future. Snap it up if you can! Laurence Vittes Total playing time: 283'42

If you collect Beethoven quartet recordings this is a happy time, with excellent new cycles from the Prazák Quartet (Praga), the Takacs (Decca), and this latest release, to name only three. As anyone who has heard the Auryn Quartet's Schubert recordings will attest, this is an exceptional group, sporting all of the qualities of superior chamber ensembles: a keen sense of rhythm, the ability to phrase as one, and an engaging sense of the music's ongoing dialog among the players. All of these virtues are very much in evidence here, combined with a dynamism and drive that Beethoven's music particularly demands. The fact that all six quartets fit onto two discs in their numerical order gives some indication of what to expect: fleet tempos, but also incisive accents and plenty of energy. In the B-flat quartet (No. 6) for example, the dialog between upper and lower strings in the first movement has real spontaneity, and in the finale the contrast between the melancholy opening and the main body of the movement, with its seasick chromatic inner lines, is especially sharp--the tempo (as Beethoven asks) closer to Allegro than Allegretto. The group perfectly judges the relationship between the curious inner movements of the C minor quartet (No. 4), catching the scherzo" quality of its purported slow movement particularly well. They also know how to relax into Beethoven's more effusive inspirations, clearly relishing the Adagio affetuoso ed appassionato of the F major quartet (No. 1), as well as the lovely, truly singing Andante cantabile in No. 5. If there is any criticism, it has to be said that the quartet's overall timbre is not as smooth as, say, the great Czech ensembles (Talich or Prazák), who manage just as much vitality while maintaining a more velvety melodic surface. It may be that a touch of period practice has rubbed off on these players, though I want to stress that their sound never becomes rough or ugly, as for example characterizes the Lindsay's grotesque slashing and hacking in their recently completed second ASV cycle. It's valid both for Beethoven and his models, Mozart and (especially) Haydn, and you may in any case just find yourself swept up in the infectious enthusiasm of the playing, as well as seduced by Tacet's state-of-the-art, crystal clear sonics. I look forward to the continuation of what promises to be an outstanding cycle." David Hurwitz Total playing time: 312'56

SOUTHERN TYROL – TICINO


The Places
Northern Italy has been ruled by various powers over the centuries. The Southern Tyrol, seen here, retains much of its Austrian past, with some regions predominantly German-speaking and others Italian. Scenes are shown of the Dolomites, the strangely shaped rock formations, a typical castle and mountain lakes. There are also views of the neighbouring Swiss-Italian canton of Ticino.


The Music
Music for the tour is by Beethoven, with his Violin Concerto, written and first performed in Vienna, and one of his two Romances for solo violin and orchestra, independent pieces perhaps intended as slow movements for another concerto that was never completed.


Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Dolby Digital / DTS Surround
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 58 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

SICILY

The Places
Sicily has enjoyed a remarkably varied history, held by Phoenicians and Carthaginians, it became part of Roman territory, later to be occupied by Ostrogoths, recaptured by the Byzantines, ruled by Saracens, and occupied by the Normans, followed by German, French, and Spanish overlords. It was only in the mid-nineteenth century that the island was drawn into the unified country of Italy. The historical changes that Sicily has undergone are reflected in its culture.

The Music
The music chosen for this tour of Sicily is by Beethoven and consists of three of his best known piano sonatas, the Pathétique, the Moonlight and the Appassionata.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 57 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

ITALY: A Musical Tour of Tuscany, Rome and Perugia (NTSC)

The Places
The journey starts in the countryside near Arezzo, and passes from there to other districts of Tuscany, to the wine-producing fields near Montalcino, and thence to Rome and to the volcanic Lake Bracciano. The tour ends in the ancient town of Perugia, for long an artistic centre.

The Music
The music of the tour consists of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 of 1812 and two overtures, Coriolanus and The Consecration of the House. The Coriolanus overture was written for a play by Heinrich von Collin on the plot familiar from Shakespeare, and the second overture for the opening of a new theatre in Vienna in 1822.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 54 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Classical Music

Piano Sonatas 1,5,6,9,10,13,14 "Moonlight," 15 "Pastoral," 25. Performed by the noted Beethoven interpreter Alfred Brendel.

Piano Sonatas 27,28,29 "Hammerklavier," 30,31,32. Alfred Brendel concludes his famous recordings of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas.

If you happened to see Daniel Barenboim’s 2003 Beethoven master classes on DVD, you might remember an unusually poised young pianist, Alessio Bax, who chose the “Hammerklavier” sonata’s daunting final movement. Fast-forward 11 years to Bax’s recording of the complete work, coupled with the composer’s ubiquitous “Moonlight” sonata. Bax might not take the “Hammerklavier” Allegro at Beethoven’s admittedly optimistic metronome marking, but the hurling momentum, lean yet nuanced textures, and astute ear for voice leading (the amazingly well contoured fughetta, for instance) convey both structure and kinetic energy. Also note Bax’s explosive build-up of the upward alternating broken fifths and sixths leading into the recapitulation, complete with the controversial “misprint masterstroke” Urtext A-sharp (played by Schnabel and Arrau) rather than the more logical yet less quirky A-natural (Brendel and Kempff).

The brisk, appropriately sardonic Scherzo features stinging offbeat accents and a ferocious upward F major scale buttoning the Trio. When I played the Adagio sostenuto for my college piano teacher, he constantly admonished me to “put some beef on that left hand.” I pass that advice down to Alessio! While he certainly sustains his slow basic tempo with the utmost in expressive economy, he does tend to uniformly voice his slow-moving chords, with the top melody line to the fore. Bax brilliantly characterizes the Largo’s madcap mood swings and broken chord transition into the Fugue, while the Fugue itself is a knockout: brisk, clear, clean, and jazzy as hell.

Bax sets an ideal and flexible pace for the “Moonlight” sonata’s iconic Adagio sostenuto, which he plays gorgeously. A few of the Allegretto’s clipped phrase endings and teensy tenutos strike me as what one of my British colleagues describes as “a mite twee.” However, Bax’s rhythmic discipline, focused articulation, and sharp attention to dynamics in the Presto agitato finale make the performance sound faster than it actually is.

Under Bax’s virtuosic fingers, the Chorus of the Dervishes whirls with Lisztian abandon. On the other hand, his overly fast and lightweight treatment of the Turkish March lacks the thrust and force of Beethoven’s original orchestral version, not to mention the once-popular Anton Rubinstein transcription. Reservations aside, this release adds up to an impressive achievement for which Bax should be proud.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

BEETHOVEN: Adagio

Known for his characteristically deep sound and formidable virtuosity, violinist Monte Belknap joins concert pianist Barbara Allen to perform the complete collection of Beethoven's sonatas for piano and violin in this new 4-disc set.

Belknap has numerous film credits, including serval as a soloist. He regularly performs with the Uinta Trio and the Deseret String Quartet. Belknap has been a violin professor at the BYU School of Music since 2003, and his former students concertize and perform with major symphonies around the world.

Allen has concertized widely, playing solo chamber music and concerto repertoire. Also a singer and a conductor, she has been music director of the Utah Lyric Opera and is currently vocal coach for the BYU Opera Theatre.

Described by the New York Times in 1944 as “One of the most remarkably gifted of the younger generation of American keyboard artists”. Leon Fleisher was born in San Francisco in 1928. In 1944, at age 16, he played the Brahms first Piano Concerto as soloist with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Pierre Monteux. In 1952 he won the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. He played the Brahms and Beethoven Piano Concertos often and recorded them with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. In 1964, he noticed that two fingers of his right hand were beginning to involuntarily curl up. He tried every therapy that existed then, but his solo career was effectively ended. He continued to teach, and conduct and in 1967 began to perform works for the left hand. In 1995 he succeeded to regain the use if his right hand and began performing and recording with two-hands. Leon Fleisher passed away in 2020 at age 92.

DOREMI is proud to offer here a hitherto unreleased live recording of Beethoven First and third Piano Concertos with George Szell and the New York Philharmonic and Frederic Waldman and Musica Aeterna Orchestra of New York.