The ensemble KLANGKOLLEKTIV WIEN as newly founded orchestral body in the Austrian cultural landscape has already with their first Schubert recording (Gramola 99180) met with an enthusiastic audience. The unique approach of the musicians with conductor and “sound designer” Rémy Ballot to get to the bottom of the works of Viennese classical music and to reveal their inner logic, leads to a new understanding of orchestra. Gramola now publishes a concert recording of the “Vorstadt premiere” in Vienna’s Penzing district with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” as well as the Egmont Overture for the Beethoven year 2020 (250th anniversary of his birth). Following their self-conception KLANGKOLLEKTIV WIEN interprets these works in the slim and transparent original cast of the premiere with only six first violins, thus opening an acoustic reminiscence of the year 1804.

Beethoven's monumental contribution to Western classical music is celebrated here in this definitive collection marking the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth. Surveying the totality of his career and achievement, the Complete Edition spans orchestral, concerto, keyboard, chamber, music for the stage, choral and vocal works, encompassing his most familiar and iconic masterpieces, alongside rarities and recently reconstructed fragments and sketches in world premiere recordings. The roster of artists and ensembles includes some of Beethoven's greatest contemporary exponents, in performances that have won critical acclaim worldwide.

INCLUDES WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS -- OVER 100 HOURS OF MUSIC

CONTENTS:

DISCS 1-8: ORCHESTRAL

Symphonies Nos. 1-9, Overtures, Wellington's Victory, German & Viennese Dances, Marches, Minuets

DISCS 9-13: CONCERTO

Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5, Piano Concerto, Op. 61a, Piano Concerto, WoO 4, Violin Concerto, Triple Concerto, Romances, Fragments

DISCS 14-34: KEYBOARD

Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-32, Early Sonatas, Dances & Bagatelles, Piano Variations, Works for Piano 4 Hands, The Creatures of Prometheus (Piano Version), Wellington's Victory (Piano Version), Fragments, Arrangements & Sketches

DISCS 35-65: CHAMBER

Violin Sonatas, Cello Sonatas, Flute Sonatas & Serenades, Horn Sonata, String Trios, String Quartets, String Quintets, Piano Trios, Piano Quartets, Wind Quintet, Sextets, Septet, Octet, Preludes & Fugues, Canons, Dances & Marches, Duets, Trios & Quartets, National Airs & Variations, Fragments

DISCS 66-72: STAGE

Fidelio, Leonore, Egmont, King Stephen, The Creatures of Prometheus, The Ruins of Athens, The Consecration of the House, Leonore Prohaska, Germania

DISCS 73-77: CHORAL

Missa Solemnis, Mass in C Major, Choral Fantasy, Christ on the Mount of Olives, Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage, Cantata on the Accession of Emperor Leopold II, Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, The Glorious Moment, Opferlied, Abschiedsgesang, Cantata campestre, Gesang der Monche, Der freie Mann, Bundeslied

DISCS 78-90: VOCAL

Irish, Scottish, Welsh & English Songs, Folk Songs, Lieder, Concert Arias, Canons & Musical Jokes, Fragments & Alternative Versions

FEATURED ARTISTS and ENSEMBLES:

Martin Galling • Sergio Gallo • Patrick Gallois • Boris Giltburg • Amy and Sara Hamann • Jenő Jandó • Jakub Junek • Dong-Suk Kang • Maria Kliegel • Warren Lee • Takako Nishizaki • Carl Petersson • Hermann Prey Matti Salminen • Konstantin Scherbakov • Kazunori Seo • Nina Tichman • Stefan Vladar • Larry Weng • Ian Yungwook Yoo Fine Arts Quartet • Kodály Quartet • New Zealand Piano Quartet • Xyrion Trio

Capella Istropolitana • Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice • Minnesota Orchestra • Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus • New Zealand Symphony Orchestra • Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia • Royal Philharmonic Orchestra • Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra • Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra • Staatskapelle Dresden • Turku Philharmonic Orchestra Herbert Blomstedt • Hilary Davan Wetton • Oliver Dohnányi • Béla Drahos • Stephen Gunzenhauser Michael Halász • Kenneth Jean • James Judd • Ondrej Lenárd • Kenneth Schermerhorn • Leif Segerstam • Stanisław Skrowaczewski • Marek Štilec

CONTENT DETAILS:

Disc 01 - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, Drahos) 8.500250-01

Disc 02 - Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 (Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, Drahos) 8.500250-02

Disc 03 - Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 (Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, Drahos) 8.500250-03

Disc 04 - Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8 (Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, Drahos) 8.500250-04

Disc 05 - Symphony No. 9, "Choral" (Papian, Donose, M. Fink, Otelli, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Drahos) 8.500250-05

Disc 06 - Overtures (Slovak Philharmonic, Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, Gunzenhauser, Drahos) 8.500250-06

Disc 07 - German and Viennese Dances / Marches (O. Dohnányi, Segerstam) 8.500250-07

Disc 08 - Wellington's Victory / Minuets (O. Dohnányi, Segerstam, Skrowaczewski) 8.500250-08

Disc 09 - Piano Concerto No. 1 / Piano Concerto, WoO 4 (Vladar, Galling, Wordsworth, Bünte) 8.500250-09

Disc 10 - Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 5, "Emperor" (Vladar, Čechová, Krytinář, Haniková, Wordsworth, M. Štilec) 8.500250-10

Disc 11 - Piano Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 (Vladar, Capella Istropolitana, Wordsworth) 8.500250-11

Disc 12 - Violin Concerto (version for piano and orchestra) / Triple Concerto (Dong-Suk Kang, Kliegel, Jandó) 8.500250-12

Disc 13 - Violin Concertos, Op. 61 and WoO 5, Hess 10 / Romances Nos. 1 and 2 (Takako Nishizaki, Junek) 8.500250-13

Disc 14 - Bagatelles, Opp. 33, 119, 126, WoO 54, 59 and 60 (Jandó, S. Gallo) 8.500250-14

Disc 15 - Ländler, WoO 11, 15 / Minuets, WoO 10, 218 (Jandó) 8.500250-15

Disc 16 - German Dances, WoO 13, Hess 5 and Hess 67 / Contredanses, Hess 102 (excepts) (Jandó, S. Gallo) 8.500250-16

Disc 17 - Minuets / Bagatelles / Waltzes (S. Gallo, Jandó, C. Petersson, Larry Weng) 8.500250-17

Disc 18 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 1, 2 and 3 (Jandó) 8.500250-18

Disc 19 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7 (Jandó) 8.500250-19

Disc 20 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, "Pathétique", 9, 10 and 11 (Giltburg, Jandó) 8.500250-20

Disc 21 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 12, "Sonate mit dem Trauermarsch", 13, 14, "Moonlight" and 15, "Pastoral" (Jandó) 8.500250-21

Disc 22 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 16, 17, "Tempest" and 18, "La Chasse" (Jandó) 8.500250-22

Disc 23 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 19, 20, 21, "Waldstein", 22 and 23, "Appassionata" (Giltburg, Jandó) 8.500250-23

Disc 24 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 24, 25, "Kuckuck-Sonate", 26, "Les Adieux, l'Absence et le Retour", 27, 28 (Jandó) 8.500250-24

Disc 25 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 29, "Hammerklavier", 30 and 31 (Jandó) 8.500250-25

Disc 26 - Piano Sonatas, Op. 111 and WoO 47, Nos. 1-3, "Kurfürstensonaten" (S. Gallo, Giltburg, Jandó) 8.500250-26

Disc 27 - Piano Variations, Opp. 34, 65, WoO 68, 70 and 80 (Jandó, Ian Yungwook Yoo) 8.500250-27

Disc 28 - Piano Variations, Op. 76, WoO 64, 65, 66, 69, 72, 73 and 76 (S. Gallo, Larry Weng, Ian Yungwook Yoo) 8.500250-28

Disc 29 - Piano Variations, WoO 63, "Dresselver Variations", 75, 77-79 (S. Gallo, S. Kagan, C. Petersson) 8.500250-29

Disc 30 - Piano Variations, Op. 120, "Diabelli Variations" and WoO 71 (Scherbakov, Ian Yungwook Yoo) 8.500250-30

Disc 31 - Sonata for Piano 4 Hands, Op. 6 / Piano Variations, WoO 67 and 74 (A. and S. Hamann) 8.500250-31

Disc 32 - Piano Sketches and Fragments (Fishell, S. Gallo, C. Petersson) 8.500250-32

Disc 33 - Musik zu einem Ritterballett / Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (Warren Lee, C. Petersson) 8.500250-33

Disc 34 - Piano Sketches and Fragments (S. Gallo, Jandó, C. Petersson) 8.500250-34

Disc 35 - Cello Sonatas Nos. 1-3 (Kliegel, Tichman) 8.500250-35

Disc 36 - Cello Sonatas Nos. 4 and 5 / Cello Sonata, Op. 64, Hess A 15 (Kliegel, Tichman) 8.500250-36

Disc 37 - Variations on Cello and Piano / Mandolin Sonatinas, WoO 43a and 44a, Hess 43 (Kliegel, Sariel) 8.500250-37

Disc 38 - Piano Trios Nos. 1 and 2 (Xyrion Trio) 8.500250-38

Disc 39 - Piano Trios Nos. 3, 4, "Gassenhauer" and 5, "Ghost" (Hausmann, Xyrion Trio) 8.500250-39

Disc 40 - Piano Trios Nos. 6 and 7, "Archduke" 8.500250-40

Disc 41: Piano Trio Variations / Symphony No. 2 (version for piano trio) (Xyrion Trio) 8.500250-41

Disc 42 - Piano Trios, Op. 38, WoO 37 and WoO 38, Hess 49 (Demmler, Tillier, Grabinger, Xyrion Trio) 8.500250-42

Disc 43 - Piano Quartets, WoO 36, Nos. 1-3 (New Zealand Piano Quartet) 8.500250-43

Disc 44 - Piano Quartet, Op. 16 / Piano Quintet (Ioannides, Jandó) 8.500250-44

Disc 45 - String Trios, Op. 9, Nos. 1-3 / Trio Secondo, Hess 28 (Falvay, Scholtes, Fejérvári, Sedo Karasaki) 8.500250-45

Disc 46 - String Trio, Op. 3 / Serenade, Op. 8 / Finale: Allegro, Hess 25 (Falvay, Eunji Kim, Fejérvári) 8.500250-46

Disc 47 - String Quartets Nos. 1, 2, "Komplimentierquartett" and 3 (Kodály Quartet) 8.500250-47

Disc 48 - String Quartets Nos. 4, 5 and 6 (Kodály Quartet) 8.500250-48

Disc 49 - String Quartets Nos. 7 and 8, "Rasumowsky" (Kodály Quartet) 8.500250-49

Disc 50 - String Quartets Nos. 9, "Rasumowsky, Heldenquartett" and 10, "Harp" (Kodály Quartet) 8.500250-50

Disc 51 - String Quartets Nos. 11 and 12 (Kodály Quartet) 8.500250-51

Disc 52 - String Quartets Nos. 13 and 14 (Kodály Quartet) 8.500250-52

Disc 53 - String Quartets Nos. 15 and 16 / String Quartet, Hess 34 (Kodály Quartet) 8.500250-53

Disc 54 - String Quartet, Hess 32 / Allegretto, WoO 210 (Fine Arts Quartet, Quartetto d'Archi di Venezia) 8.500250-54

Disc 55 - String Quintets, Opp. 29 and 104 (Fine Arts Quartet, G. Sharon) 8.500250-55

Disc 56 - Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-4 (Takako Nishizaki, Jandó) 8.500250-56

Disc 57 - Violin Sonatas Nos. 5, "Spring", 6 and 7, "Eroica" (Takako Nishizaki, Jandó) 8.500250-57

Disc 58 - Violin Sonatas Nos. 8, "Champagnersonate", 9, "Kreutzer" and 10 8.500250-58

Disc 59 - Dances and Marches (Segal, Sarid, Scholtes, Fine Arts Quartet, New Zealand Symphony, Judd) 8.500250-59

Disc 60 - 3 Duets, WoO 27 / Duo for Viola and Cello, WoO 32 (Kazunori Seo, Mitsuo Kodama, Zimmermann, Kliegel) 8.500250-60

Disc 61 - Septet, Op. 20 / Wind Quintet, WoO 208, Hess 19 (Balogh, Vajda, Jenő Keveházi, Hegyi, Máthé, Szabó) 8.500250-61

Disc 62 - Sextet, Opp. 71, 81b / Octet, Op. 103, "Parthia" (Shifrin, Paul Wonjin Cho, Morelli, Olegario) 8.500250-62

Disc 63 - Preludes and Fugues, Hess 29-31 / String Quintet, Hess 40 (fragment) (Segal, Sarid, Isabel Kwon) 8.500250-63

Disc 64 - Flute Sonata, Anh. 4, Hess A 11 / Serenade, Op. 25 (Kazunori Seo, Asuka Sezaki, Koichi Komine) 8.500250-64

Disc 65 - 6 Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 105 / 10 Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 107 (Gallois, Prinz) 8.500250-65

Disc 66 - Geschöpfe des Prometheus (Die) [Ballet] (Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam) 8.500250-66

Disc 67 - Fidelio [Opera] (CD 1) (Glashof, Titus, I. Nielsen, Hungarian Radio Chorus, Halász) 8.500250-67

Disc 68 - Fidelio [Opera] (CD 2) / König Stephan (Halász, Segerstam) 8.500250-68

Disc 69 - Leonore (1805 version) [Opera] (CD 1) (Polster, T. Adam, Cassilly, Leipzig Radio Choir, Blomstedt) 8.500250-69

Disc 70 - Leonore (1805 version) [Opera] (CD 2) (Polster, T. Adam, Cassilly, Leipzig Radio Choir, Blomstedt) 8.500250-70

Disc 71 - Egmont / Vestas Feuer, Hess 115 (fragment) (Salminen, Ranta, Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam) 8.500250-71

Disc 72 - Ruinen von Athen (Die) / Die Weihe des Hauses Overture (Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam) 8.500250-72

Disc 73 - Glorreiche Augenblick (Der) / Choral Fantasy (City of London Choir, Royal Philharmonic, Wetton) 8.500250-73

Disc 74 - Missa Solemnis (L. Phillips, Redmon, J. Taylor, Baylon, Nashville Symphony Chorus, Schermerhorn) 8.500250-74

Disc 75 - Cantata on the accession of Emperor Leopold II / Mass, Op. 86 (Aalto, Katajala, Segerstam) 8.500250-75

Disc 76 - Christus am Ölberge / Opferlied, Op. 121b (Lehesvuori, Säikkä, Raudanen, Segerstam) 8.500250-76

Disc 77 - Cantata on the death of the Emperor Joseph II / Abschiedsgesang, WoO 102 (Segerstam, T. Holmes) 8.500250-77

Disc 78 - Irish Songs, Vol. 1, WoO 152 (R. Kramer, Schedel, Wohlgemuth, Springer, K. Wagner, Wehler) 8.500250-78

Disc 79 - Irish Songs, Vol. 2, WoO 153 (Bourvé, R. Kramer, Schedel, Wohlgemuth, Springer, Stöhr) 8.500250-79

Disc 80 - Irish Songs, Vol. 3, WoO 154 / 26 Welsh Songs, WoO 155 (Bourvé, Stöhr, Wehler, D.M. Hamilton, Schaub) 8.500250-80

Disc 81 - 22 Scottish Songs, WoO 156 (Bourvé, Wohlgemuth, Stöhr, Wehler, D.M. Hamilton, Poplutz) 8.500250-81

Disc 82 - 4 English Songs, WoO 157 / 29 Songs of Various Nationality, WoO 158 (Bourvé, R. Kramer, Wohlgemuth) 8.500250-82

Disc 83 - 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108 (R. Kramer, Springer, Büchner, Leib) 8.500250-83

Disc 84 - Folksong Arrangements (alternative versions) (Bohnet, Johannsen, Klimbacher) 8.500250-84

Disc 85 - Lieder, Vol. 1 (Coburn, Trost, Prey, Hokanson, Bartos) 8.500250-85

Disc 86 - Lieder, Vol. 2 (Coburn, Trost, Prey, Bojórquez, Hokanson, Bartos) 8.500250-86

Disc 87 - Lieder, Vol. 3 (Coburn, Gerstgrasser, Tauber, Prey, Edelmann, Klimbacher) 8.500250-87

Disc 88 - Lieder, Vol. 4 (E. Breuer, Coburn, Schlemmer, Bohnet, Trost, Johannsen) 8.500250-88

Disc 89 - Voice and Orchestra Works (Haavisto, Karlström, Greenlaw, Turku Philharmonic, Segerstam) 8.500250-89

Disc 90 - Canons and Musical Jokes (Schlemmer, Breuer, Tauber, Weiser, Tabea Ensemble, Cantus Novus Wien) 8.500250-90

REVIEWS:

If you’re a Beethoven completist…you get the closest, the best quality overall and also the best value from Naxos. One of the most interesting things about this box is that it contains a tremendous number of rarities and transcriptions of things that you’re just not going to find anywhere else.

– ClassicsToday.com

By far the most complete of the three sets is Naxos' box, which dives deep into the catalogue of obscure Beethoven pieces and variants. Naxos' trademark of less-well-known artists but still first-class performances and recordings is carried over here...excellent quality.

– MusicWeb International

Beethoven: Complete Chamber Music for Flute

This is a program featuring some of Beethoven's greatest piano works, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of his Birth. A native of Ukraine, Sophia Agranovich is an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator. Sophia Agranovich is “a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics…A tigress of the keyboard” – Fanfare. Her performances are captivating audiences by the “orison of uncommon beauty” – Audiophile, “the extraordinary dramatic urgency”, “the ideal balance she achieves between the intellectual and the emotional” – Fanfare, “interpretation that dares to be different”, “magnificent shading and superior musicianship” – American Record Guide. Her previous releases for Centaur have been met with wide critical acclaim.

Irish cellist Ailbhe McDonagh and world renowned Beethoven specialist John O'Conor celebrated Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year with this recording of his complete sonatas for cello and piano. “Out of several performances of the Beethoven A major sonata heard over 30 years, McDonagh’s was the most musically complete and satisfying.” (Irish Times) “O'Conor brought real poetry to his recital of late-period Beethoven ... incisive, even visionary projections that drove to the heart of the musical matter.” (Washington Post)

Beethoven’s Op. 1 Piano Trios are startling in their freshness and forcefulness, but there is a lot more to them than that. For one thing, they teem with witty touches, something that is brought out by performances like these, featuring the George Malcolm Piano Trio. “There cannot be a better Op. 1 by any composer, and the George Malcolm Piano Trio conveys the attractions of these two works with skill and intelligence... You could not fail to enjoy this record.” (Original Gramophone review from 1977) Originally released in 1977, the recording is published here on modern technology for the first time, and fittingly in Beethoven 2020 year. These are fresh, bold and musically great performances. The George Malcolm Piano Trio only lasted three years before the trio’s cellist Kenneth Heath died; this is their only recording and is a true testament of a wonderful ensemble partnership, full of verve and humor.

Beethoven 4 Kids, like its predecessor Bach 4 Kids, is a short program of vivid and varied piano pieces for listeners of all ages. A bonus video, Sammy Snake’s Lucky Day, provides a mini introduction to classical piano music, particularly Beethoven’s. Andrew Rangell is a much-admired concert pianist and recording artist. His more than 30 albums encompass 4 centuries of keyboard music, from Sweelinck and Gibbons to Schoenberg, Fartein Valen, and Christian Wolff. During the late 1980s Mr. Rangell received much acclaim and an Avery Fisher Career Grant for his vivid traversals of the 32 Beethoven sonatas in New York, Boston, and a host of other cities. His Beethoven recordings include the late sonatas, bagatelles and Diabelli Variations, as well as many earlier sonatas, variations, and seldom-heard pieces.

If Kissin were a singer, he would definitely be on the opera stage. He produces a sound which is deep, weighty and brilliant, and projects the opening of Kreisleriana as if he were Jove himself venting his rage.

Yevgeny Kissin may look like a marionette, but if he were a singer, he would definitely be on the opera stage. He does not bash, but he produces a sound which is deep, weighty and brilliant. He projects the opening piece of Kreisleriana as if he were Jove himself venting his rage – not quite the passionate eccentricity Schumann had in mind, perhaps, though the contrasting quiet section is delicious. Nor does the second piece begin quite ‘inwardly’ as marked, though it is very considered, and while Kissin makes the first Intermezzo dazzling, he misses Schumann’s simple joy. From the second Intermezzo alone you know it is Kissin playing because of his characteristic – and deliberate – dragging of the left hand behind the right. His constant virtue is commitment to every single note he plays, which makes the final section of this extended piece, if much larger than life, incredibly compelling.

No pianist today (or yesterday) is more lavishly gifted than Kissin purely as a technician. For natural brilliance, perhaps, Martha Argerich compares, and it is her recording of Kreisleriana with which this new release invites comparison. Though Kissin’s recording is rich and spacious, it doesn’t make use of the microphone to produce all those half-lights and impalpable shadows that Argerich achieved. And Kissin hasn’t Argerich’s range of response to the picturesque – none of her secretive mood in the third piece, her impish glee in the fifth, nor above all, her sense of intimacy.

And yet, on its own, very ‘public’ terms, this issue is overwhelming, with a performance of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne which, for once, bears no sign of straining the medium.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Adrian Jack, BBC Music Magazine

BERLIN - A Musical Tour of Germany's Capital City

The Places
Berlin was transformed into the capital of Brandenburg under the Elector Friedrich II in the 14th century, to become the capital of Prussia and then, in the 19th century, of a united Germany.

The Music
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony accompanies the tour to Berlin, with his third Leonora Overture and his overture to Goethe’s play Egmont.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 56 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Following his ‘glorious’ Shostakovich concertos recording which was named a BBC Music Magazine Concerto Choice, Simon Trpčeski releases his first solo piano album for Linn. Hailed for his powerful virtuosity, deeply expressive approach and charismatic stage presence, the pianist has recorded five sets of variations by Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven. In addition to Mozart’s simple, elegant Variations on Salve tu Domine, and his practically unknown Variations on Come un agnello, the recital includes Brahms’s multi-layered, highly romantic Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9, plus Beethoven’s Variations on the Russian Dance, whose classical style belies the composer’s quintessential fierceness. Beethoven’s substantial Variations on an Original Theme in C minor, whose eight-measure theme based on a descending chromatic bass sets off a whirlwind of uninterrupted variations, draws the recital to a close. The wide range of emotions expressed in these variations showcase Trpčeski’s own extraordinary range.

Rachel Podger, "the unsurpassed British glory of the baroque violin" (The Times), and Grammy award-winning pianist Christopher Glynn recorded Beethoven's Sonatas for Violin and Piano Nos. 1, 5 and 10. Following the critically acclaimed Mozart/Jones Sonatas Fragment Completions (2021), this Beethoven album marks Podger & Glynn's second release together. Reading about Ludwig van Beethoven as a performer usually brings up the inevitable stories about his characteristic and idiosyncratic piano playing in Vienna. But delving further into his early years in Bonn, we read that, as a musician at the court of the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, he was active as both organist and viola player. And when he left for Vienna in 1792 he was advised to take violin lessons with Ignaz Schuppanzigh. Beethoven's profound understanding of both the violin and the piano, and ability to combine them with astonishing invention and originality, is heard in ten sonatas. Three of which are performed on this new album.

The album Aufgelebt is all about revival, rebirth and recreation, the promise of new beginnings. Beethoven worked on his Piano Concerto No. 4 and the Op. 61a (piano version of a violin concerto) in the same period of his life. Both concertos were neglected and would have been forgotten had it not been for the attention of Felix Mendelssohn, who revived the Fourth Piano Concerto in 1836 and conducted the violin concerto, in 1844. Since then, these two concertos have been considered to be masterpieces of classical music literature. The Violin Concerto had yet another chance of rebirth long before young Joachim’s success. After attending the premier of the piece, Muzio Clementi asked Beethoven to transcribe the work for piano and orchestra. His wish was promptly fulfilled by the composer, who at the same time enriched the Concerto with authentic cadenzas, of which the first - in the First Movement - is very special as the piano is accompanied by timpani!

Music has always been used throughout the ages to convey certain states, emotions. Especially in the music of the 19th century, it was important for composers to express inner states - landscapes of the soul - in their music. They seek nature as a counterpart to the human soul and in the expression of music nature serves as a background, to express the most diverse emotions. When thinking of images, landscapes, impressions of nature, which are closely connected with the world of the Romanticism of the 19th century, then actually a literary image immediately comes to mind: the Blue Flower, which Novalis conjures up in his novel "Heinrich von Ofterdingen" as an ideal fantasy image, so to say as a utopian ideal state. And that, after all, is the goal: to find one's way out of the various wanderings and confusions of the landscapes of the soul to a destination that can never be reached. Hence this general term Die Blaue Blume. For his first album on the Aeolus record label Martin Schmeding has chosen transcriptions of works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, and the famous Sonata by Julius Reubke. He plays the new organ (2017) of the Friedenskirche, K�ln-M�lheim (Cologne), a fascinating instrument that was built by Woehl Orgel Projekte in the German romantic style.

Regarded by international critics and audiences as an artist of extraordinary musicianship and rare sensibility and tracing his musical roots to Alfred Cortot, Artur Schnabel and Alexander Siloti, Gerardo Teissonnière brings to the concert stage an exciting amalgam of the diverse and important pianistic traditions he represents. Transcendental, dramatic, melodic and stylistic elements are present in each of Beethoven’s final three transcendental piano sonatas, and Teissonnière delivers them and more, revealing lyrical, personal interpretations while maintaining faithfulness to the original sources and scores.

These works share the common key of E flat major but represent two very different stages in the composer’s life. The Piano Concerto "No. 0," WoO 4, was written when Beethoven was 13 years old and is one of his earliest works. With the orchestral score lost, this extant version for piano solo written in Beethoven’s hand includes the tutti sections reduced for piano. The radiant ‘Emperor’ Concerto shows the 38-year-old Beethoven at the peak of his creative powers, and remains a glorious example of his spirit triumphing over life’s adversities.

REVIEW:

Boris Giltburg’s recording of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto is offered with a scintillating twist, the ‘other’ E-flat concerto composed when the composer was 13. This brings Giltburg’s Beethoven concerto cycle to a close, his ebullience and physicality the reverse of plain-speaking, brilliantly partnered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko.

Given such forces this is never simply ‘another’ Emperor, but one boldly and exuberantly conceived. Giltburg makes you listen with new ears to one of the most familiar and greatly loved works in the repertoire. The Piano Concerto No 0 (played in Beethoven’s original piano reduction) may be a protracted jeu d’esprit, but Giltburg’s relish of its tonic, virtuoso aplomb sets the pulse racing. Naxos soundworld is of an exceptional clarity and focus.

-- International Piano

Excellent performances of the Emperor and the rarely heard Concerto No. 0. The sound reproduction on this Naxos CD is vivid and well balanced. Those looking for an excellent performance of the Emperor and who are attracted to its lesser coupling, will certainly find this a most rewarding disc.

-- MusicWeb International