By the time of Emperor Joseph II’s death in 1790 Beethoven was a member of the court musical establishment in Bonn. To mark the occasion, Beethoven was commissioned to write to cantatas, one to mourn Joseph’s death and the other to celebrate the accession to the throne of Emperor Leopold II. Although Beethoven was only 19 years old at the time, both works show the embryonic marks of his greatness: intense expression and control of structure in one, and an almost operatic panache in the other. Neither piece was performed during Beethoven’s lifetime.

Newly formed Trio Marie Soldat releases its eagerly awaited debut album on Linn. Comprising violinist Cecilia Bernardini, fortepianist Keiko Shichijo and cellist Marcus van den Munckhof, the Dutch trio takes its name from Marie Soldat-Roeger, a pupil of Joseph Joachim and celebrated violinist who formed perhaps the first all-women chamber group in 1887 known as the Soldat Quartet. The program includes two E flat major masterpieces of the genre, fittingly performed on period instruments. Mellow in tone and richly textured, Beethoven’s Op. 70 No. 2 belongs to the composer’s so-called ‘middle period’. Composed in 1808 at the end of a particularly creative phase which saw a flurry of expansive works, the trio looks back at Beethoven’s one-time teacher Haydn. Trio Marie Soldat rounds off its recital with an enticing account of what is perhaps the pinnacle of the trio repertoire, Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2. Although later revised by the composer himself, the Trio gives a rare chance to hear the longer, seldom performed premiere edition.

Including premiere recordings, this programme provides us with a privileged opportunity to engage with 36 of Ludwig van Beethoven’s rarely heard sketches, variations and briefest of compositions, even the earliest of which have much to teach us about the emergence of his unique voice and style. The range of Beethoven’s musical experimentation reveals a lasting interest in counterpoint, as well as practical pages such as cadenzas for a Mozart concerto, an incomplete sonata and a second version of the famous bagatelle Fur Elise. A significant supplement to his greatest works, these miniatures bring the full arc of Beethoven’s singular genius into ever clearer focus.

...This is vibrant and virile music making full of passionate sweep, arresting clarity, and genuine, chamber-like give and take between soloist and orchestra.

Like his teacher and mentor Artur Schnabel, Fleisher underlines Beethoven's harmonic tension by either distending or slightly speeding up certain runs and arpeggiated sequences, yet rarely at the expense of accuracy...although he's not one to slave over making every long trill perfectly even and tapered. Under George Szell's eagle-eye, the Cleveland Orchestra members achieve staggering unanimity in regard to articulation and marcato phrasing, but with more heart and singing impulse than in Szell's relatively stiffer Beethoven accompaniments for Emil Gilels eight years later...

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com [reviewing the Third Concerto, Sony 78767]

"The manner is a forthright one, but Oppitz is no boor. The playing is never overtly espressivo, but within the parameters of Oppitz’s style there is ample recognition of Beethoven’s expressive intent in dolce and pianissimo passages...The recording of the Fourth Concerto is admirably explicit, the piano sound clear and forward but not inappropriately so, the orchestra nicely observed...I would not have thought this disc competitive with the best of its rivals – but it is certainly not without interest where Oppitz himself is concerned."

- Richard Osborne, Gramophone [6/1997]

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.

– Gramophone

Alessio Bax returns to recording with the Southbank Sinfonia under Simon Over, in a new album of works by Beethoven centered around the majestic “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5. Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on four continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but as a concerto soloist. He has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, Dallas and Cincinnati Symphonies, NHK Symphony in Japan, St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, and the City of Birmingham Symphony with Sir Simon Rattle. Alessio has appeared frequently with the Southbank Sinfonia in concerts and recordings – their 2013 disc of Mozart’s Concertos Nos. 24 & 27 was described by Musicweb International’s critic as their “Recording of the Month … and quite possibly my recording of the year”. A live concert of the “Emperor” concerto in 2016 with the orchestra in Tuscany’s Incontri in Terra di Siena festival was met with praise by reviewers: “[Bax’s] capacity for softness and for evenness of touch came beautifully to the fore for the concerto’s many top-keyboard pianissimo flutterings, as his strong relationship with the orchestra also reaped dividends, producing satisfyingly sympathetic chamber pockets amidst the surrounding symphonic excitement.” Bachtrack (Live Concert Review)

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REVIEW:

His playing is consummately lyrical. His expressive molding and the very forward recording quality make for an overall result that is more immediate. All in all, this is an impressive disc, which repays repeated listening and can stand comparison with many of the biggest names.

– Gramophone

Beethoven: Missa solemnis, Op. 123

Music for wind ensemble was a regular part of entertainment in Beethoven’s day, and his Octet was composed for the skilled players in the service of his patron, the Archbishop-Elector in Bonn. The charming and skillfully written Sextet is also ‘from my early things and, what’s more, was written in one night’; impressing a critic of the time ‘by its splendid melodies, leisurely harmonic flow, and wealth of new and surprising ideas.’ Wind partitas often opened with a March, and the Rondino was originally intended as the Finale to the Octet, two suitable pieces to complete this fashionable Beethoven soiree.

LATE BEETHOVEN

The Hungarian pianist, Anna Adamik, studied piano teaching at the Conservatory "Franz Liszt" in Budapest with Tamás Fülep, and continued to study piano concert playing at the Music University in Vienna with Paul Badura-Skoda. In 1980 she won the 2nd prize at the Hungarian National competition. From 1987 to 1989 she received a scholarship of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research. In 1989 she recived her concert diploma. She participated in various master-classes, with Dimitri Bachkirov, Leonhard Hokanson, Vitaly Margulis and Rudolf Kehrer among others. In 1989 she moved to South Germany and studied in Freiburg piano accompaniment and Lieder interpretation with Ramón Walter. Until 1997 Anna Adamik was a teacher at the Jugendmusikschule Markgräflerland and corepetitor at the Württembergischen Staatsoper in Stuttgart. From 1997 she is a teacher at the Lndeskonservatorium für Vorarlber in Feldkirch. For this album, she performs the work of LV Beethoven.

This is Volume 6 of the Beethoven Complete Symphonies, performed on piano by Paul Kim, in his own piano transcriptions. This album features Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, and Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93. Paul Kim maintains a career that aims to bridge the pathways of performance, musicology, and education. As a recitalist, piano soloist and chamber musician, he has collaborated with many of the world's leading artists, orchestras, and conductors. Critics have noted his "brightest flashes of virtuosity and clear transparent quality" (The New York Times) as well as "his musical honesty and integrity, his very recognizable strength of character and personality" (Gramophone). He has been featured in interviews, articles, and television and film documentaries in such media outlets as Newsweek, The New Yorker, International Herald Tribune, PBS, NPR, CNN, and the BBC.

Scherbakov and Steinway celebrate Beethoven with a cycle of the most enduring works of piano literature. These inspired performances were recorded for and during the 250th Anniversary year. “It’s like coming back home into territory that is as natural and native to you as beautiful. It’s an eternal repertory that stands above all.” (Konstantin Scherbakov) Swiss-Russian pianist Konstantin Scherbakov is among the most ubiquitous and oft-recorded pianists today. The range of his repertory is vast and demanding, both technically and interpretively: his discography comprises some 50 recordings, including the complete solo piano outputs of Godowsky, Shostakovich and Respighi, and the complete piano/orchestral works of Medtner, Tchaikovsky, Respighi and Scriabin. His contribution to the Naxos Franz Liszt piano music series includes critically acclaimed performances of Liszt’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s Symphonies, of which the Ninth Symphony was awarded the 2005 Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

REVIEW:

In early 2020 Steinway & Sons began issuing individual volumes of a Beethoven sonata cycle with pianist Konstantin Scherbakov as digital downloads. Upon the project’s completion, the label promised to bundle all nine volumes in physical CD format. The discs are packaged in space-saving sleeves, with booklet notes featuring a substantial interview between the pianist and Ben Finane.

Scherbakov, of course, is equally articulate at the keyboard. His Beethoven playing conveys exuberance, involvement, and a keen ear for detail. My enthusiastic response to Scherbakov’s Op. 2 sonata triumvirate contained on Volume 1 readily spills over into the other so-called “early” sonatas. Highlights include a memorable Op. 10 No. 3, where the slow movement’s granitic concentration contrasts to Scherbakov’s deceptively offhand timing of the finale’s sudden stops and starts.

His breezy, witty Op. 14 sonatas count among the catalog’s best, while the pianist’s nimble and slightly dry articulation in Op. 22’s outer movements underscores the music’s implicit opera buffa qualities. Notice the Op. 26 second movement’s unpredictable yet effective shifts in voicing, and the joyous, forward thrust of Op. 27 No. 1’s contrapuntal finale.

Scherbakov’s slightly contrived “Moonlight” central movement (the arch tenutos at phrase ends) turned me off, but his vibrant and musically glittering Op. 28 more than compensated; and what child’s play Scherbakov makes of the Finale’s finger-tangling coda. Scherbakov relishes the intended humor behind the desynchronized chords in Op. 31 No. 1’s first movement. He captures the flippant irony of Glenn Gould’s central movement, but at a tempo closer to what Beethoven intended. The pianist’s “Tempest” sonata is more studied than stormy in the outer movements, yet Op. 31 No. 3’s Scherzo evokes cacklingly conversing woodwinds, and the Presto finale zips past the speed limit without losing an iota of control.

The Waldstein, Appassionata, Les Adieux, and shorter Op. 54, Op. 78, and Op. 79 sonatas consistently fuse unabashed surface bravura and genuine musical insight. I like Scherbakov’s wide dynamic contrasts and stark projection in Op. 90’s first movement, but an overly fast tempo trivializes the second movement’s underlying lyricism and aching tenderness. Happily, the latter qualities come out in Op. 101’s introductory movement, which barely prepares you for the shock of the March’s relentless drive. Yet Scherbakov justifies his tempo through precise calibration of his contrapuntal balances and deadly-accurate wide interval leaps and chordal ricochets.

Like Artur Schnabel, Scherbakov emphasizes the stepwise movement of inner lines within Op. 109’s opening arpeggiated figurations. And he is one of the few pianists who truly differentiates Beethoven’s slurred and non-slurred phrases in the Prestissimo, as do Charles Rosen, Annie Fischer, and Freddy Kempf. I only wish that the third movement’s chains of trills took on more tonally varied and otherworldly hues, and that also applies to the final variations of Op. 111’s Arietta. Op. 110 is all of a piece, pianistically speaking, yet the unsubtle bass octave sforzandos in the Fugue grow fatiguing over the music’s course; I prefer more inwardness and textural transparency in the manner of recordings as disparate as those by Angela Hewitt and Dina Ugorskaja, not to mention Awadagin Pratt’s overlooked yet immensely moving EMI version.

I save the “Hammerklavier” for last, because I’m baffled by Scherbakov’s heavy and emphatic first movement, which is akin to Emil Gilels’ similarly square-cut playing but with infinitely more energy. He also bears down on the Scherzo’s downbeats, and the music never takes wing. Scherbakov plays the Adagio sostenuto simply and directly, however his rhythmic distortions obliterate the dramatic build of Beethoven’s accelerando leading from the fourth-movement introduction into the fugue. Furthermore, Scherbakov’s efficient and clear dispatch of the Fugue’s gnarly note sequences falls short of the supple fluidity and conversational interplay that distinguish the classically oriented Murray Perahia, the fire-and-brimstone Claudio Arrau, and the playful, almost jazzy Peter Serkin.

Perhaps I anticipated something more torrential on Scherbakov’s part, given his recorded whirlwind of a Beethoven/Liszt Fourth Symphony finale. Then again, one shouldn’t expect any single pianist to deliver a perfect Beethoven cycle. That Scherbakov approaches and often attains perfection throughout the course of these excellently engineered CDs is no small achievement. In short, the integrity and distinction of Scherbakov’s work contributes most positively to the Beethoven anniversary year’s abundant offerings.

– ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

The tonal language of Beethoven’s Mass in C major, the first of his two Mass settings, is that of a personal confession, making the work very modern and forward-looking and opening up entirely new worlds of expression for the liturgical text. It is in no way to be seen as a precursor of the "Missa solemnis" but instead as a highly independent work that set new standards for the advancement of mass compositions in the 19th century. Beethoven himself was well aware of its innovative nature, and wrote as much in a letter to his publisher: “I am reluctant to say anything about my Mass, or indeed about myself, but I do believe that I have treated the text in a manner to which it has rarely been treated.” For people at the time, the Mass in C major, Op. 86 of 1807 provided unprecedented access to the Christian faith in a way that is still relevant today. This important work from the history of sacred music offers a devotional sound that is simultaneously heartfelt and beautiful. Beethoven's Mass in C major was recorded at two concerts that took place exactly one year ago at the Philharmonie in Gasteig in Munich, on January 11 and 12, 2018. The high-quality performers are Genia Kühmeier (soprano), Gerhild Romberger (alto), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor) and Luca Pisaroni (bass-baritone), together with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Mariss Jansons. These concerts took place on the occasion of Maestro Jansons’ 75th birthday. The album also includes a recording of Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, performed live in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz on January 29 and 30, 2004.

I hope that Anton Kuerti's 2003 remakes of Beethoven's last three sonatas will spur him on to re-record the other 29, for these new versions are infinitely superior to his 1974/75 recordings. The pianist remains thoroughly devoted to microscopic detail and grand clarification, but his compulsive drive and raspy surface style have considerably mellowed, while his soft playing has gained body and luminescence. To sample Kuerti's newly found serenity and flow in this music, listen to his spacious parsing of Op. 109's rhapsodic introductory movement and to his patiently unfolding trills in that sonata's third movement variations and in Op. 111's Arietta, and notice how he builds Op. 110's long-lined Adagio ma non troppo from the bottom up. His rubatos in the latter sonata's Fugue no longer seem artificially tacked on but rather are organically integrated into the music's visionary path. His basic measured tempos for Op. 111, once static and fussy, now emerge as all of one piece. It goes without saying that these works are amply served via recordings from Schnabel to Serkin and Kempff to Kempf, with Hungerford, Goode, Pollini, and Richter for good measure. To this august roster we easily can add the veteran Kuerti. [4/6/2004] --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com