Beethoven: Works for Violin

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis, Choral Fantasy & Symphony No. 5 (

Classical Music

As the head of the Symphony Orchestra of Bavarian Radio, Rafael Kubelik was one of the major personalities of post-war German music life. His proverbial modesty and his creed of absolute faithfulness to the original work earned him many admirers, especially during his years in Munich as principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Bavarian Radio (1961-79). Let it be noted that it was less the person Kubelik that was venerated, but rather his interpretation of music: uncompromising concentration on what was essential, unadulterated and relevant in the best sense of the word. Examples of this can be shown by these audio recordings of two of Ludwig van Beethoven's best-known works, the Missa Solemnis, in which Beethoven like in no other work thematized his life-long struggle with faith, and the famous Symphony No. 9, which by including a choral movement broke with the conventions of Viennese Classicism like no other symphony of the time and was viewed as a ground-breaking work. With Helen Donath, Brigitte Fassbaender, Peter Schreier, John Shirley-Quirk and other voices from the very top 'league' of the concert and song guard of the 1970s and 1980s, these Munich recordings also go far beyond the status of historical sound documents - they are veritable reference recordings!

Classical Music

Classical Music

Istvan Kertesz's early death from a swimming accident in 1973 meant that he performed very little in Salzburg. In the previous decade he quickly established himself as a first-class conductor of the younger generation with a large repertoire ranging from the Viennese classics to the Modern. In Salzburg in 1962 he confirmed his reputation, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in a program that reached from Beethoven's 8th Symphony via Richard Strauss' Four last songs to Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, all of which made evident Kertesz's stylistic flexibility - everything was surging with energy and played with great lucidity. This concert (and thus the present recording of it) was further enriched by the presence of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - a Strauss interpreter without peer to the present day.

No composer’s reputation has been as inflated into myth as that of Ludwig van Beethoven, and there are good grounds for this. As the ultimate definer of classical music, he perfected the models of his predecessors Haydn and Mozart with a hitherto unknown intellectual and artistic consistency, with the consequence that he wrote fewer works than these two, but his were longer and weightier and crowned by the nine symphonies. At the same time, his intense musical language (often disturbing for his contemporaries) heralded the age of Romanticism. This release of his complete symphonies features the interpretation of the WDR Sinfonieorchester and conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste, who has established himself as one of the outstanding conductors of his generation, demonstrating remarkable musical depth and integrity. “Everything he tackles… is a success, regardless of whether it is Beethoven, Brahms, Schoenberg, or Stravinsky.” (Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger)

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REVIEW:

Unlike his more radical contemporaries, Saraste builds a profile of the composer as a reluctant revolutionary, with a dense, post-Wagnerian body of sound built up from the solid foundations of a well-defined bass section. The instincts remain sound: this is thick-set if sometimes muscle-bound Beethoven of a kind more familiar half a century ago, voiced with a lively and relaxed directorial intelligence.

– Gramophone

A box set compilation that provides a general overview of the greatness of Beethoven's symphonies, string quartets, overtures, and more.

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.

Classical Music

Evgeni Koroliov announces himself again with a recording of the Late Piano Sonatas of Beethoven (opp. 109, 110 and 111). A heavy, powerful touch is not his thing. Playing loudly where it is called for, Koroliov attempts to capture the listener’s attention in a different way, seducing one with his nuanced touch and an almost all-absorbing intensity. “If I could chose just one piece and soloist on a lonesome island, I would chose Koroliov. I would listen again and again to his recordings, dying of thirst and hunger till my last breath.” György Ligeti

Also available from Llyr Williams on Signum Classics: Wagner Without Words

A stunning release, Beethoven Unbound is presented to mark the completion of Llyr Williams’ monumental Beethoven cycle at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and was recorded live at Wigmore Hall over three years and nine recitals. As well as the complete piano sonatas, the release also features other works including the 32 Variations in C minor, Eroica Variations, Opus 126 Bagatelles and the Diabelli Variations, a total of almost 14 hours of music.

This is Williams’ fourth album on Signum Classics. Williams comments on the album and the partnership with Sherman: “Rather than adopt the chronological approach, I have arranged the works roughly in the order that I played them in the concerts... This has sometimes allowed for creativity in putting the pieces together. Working with Judy on this project has been a joy and a privilege. It was sad to reach the end – but at least we still have a Schubert cycle to look forward to!”

Williams has developed a reputation as one of the finest exponents of Beethoven, since giving his first Beethoven cycle in Perth in 2010, and winning a South Bank Sky Arts Award in 2012 for an epic two-week marathon in Edinburgh. The Guardian said of one of his RWCMD cycle recitals in 2016: “Williams’ already considerable stature as a Beethoven interpreter seems to grow with every performance” (Rian Evans, 25 March 2016) and The Independent commented on a Wigmore recital: “Williams treats it [the keyboard] as an extension of his body, and with the three Opus 10 sonatas plus the Diabelli Variations he took us onto an altogether higher plane” (Michael Church, 12 October 2016).

Beethoven's five cello sonatas are the quintessence of his personality and work: they exemplify the creative development of this great composer who is perhaps even more relevant in our modern, ephemeral society in which little time is left for reflection. + Cellist Maja Weber and pianist Per Lundberg have been playing chamber music together for more than twenty years, mostly in piano quartets and quintets. + The idea of forming "Duo Leonore" was thus a natural consequence of their working together.

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.