This fourth installment of the Geza Anda edition in the SWR music / haenssler CLASSIC historical series presents the first and the last of Beethoven's piano concertos. As in other recordings before, Anda performs in the First Concerto as both soloist and conductor. These recordings of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 5 are areal enrichment of the Anda discography - no other recording of this concert has ever been released.

The emotional effect of Beethoven’s music on contemporary listeners was enormous: his works were experienced as something completely unheard of and revolutionary. In this recording on a historical fortepiano, the Italian pianist Edoardo Torbianelli explores Beethoven’s high ideals and profound introspection of his music, which are considered essential features of his works. To this end, there is hardly a more suitable work than the Diabelli Variations, op. 120, Beethoven’s last great piano work. Encoring the variations is Beethoven’s prior opus, the Bagatelles, op. 119.

Pianist Katie Mahan presents a program which transports the listener into the inner world of Ludwig van Beethoven. Traveling from his final work for piano backwards to the beloved Appassionata sonata, we hear the expression of his emotions and passions, and witness his transformation as an artist and a man. "What amazed the listener most was the striking dynamic range... a pianissimo of the most tender poetry to a fortissimo of thunderous passion. An exquisite and memorable performance which was both soulful and powerful, and of great artistic understanding." (Rocky Mountain News)

A man of contrasts and dramatic intensity, Beethoven is one of the most striking figures in all music history. He wrote the works presented on this recording during the period in which he was gradually becoming aware of his growing deafness. Upon its release, this debut album of the Beethoven’s clarinet trios by the Ensemble Kheops - clarinetist Ronald Van Spaendonck, cellist Marie Hallynck and pianist Muhiddin Dürrüoglu - earned high critical praise.

Beethoven's Sonata, Op. 23 in A minor seems to portray the darker side of love, it's unfulfillment, whereas the later Op. 24, the so-called spring sonata - as a sort of characterization of a loving heart's feeling of spring - references the sweet, beautiful aspects of love. Irnberger and Michael Korstick furthermore present the variations Se vuol ballare WoO 40 on a theme from the opera Le nozze di Figaro, which Beethoven dedicated to his beloved Eleonore von Breuning, which leads to all those pieces having been written thinking of beloved women. The likes of J�rg Demus, Evgueni Sinaiski, and Paul Badura-Skoda, as well the Israel Chamber Orchestra / conductor Roberto Paternostro and the orchestra 'Spirit of Europe' / conductor Martin Sieghart have stressed the young Thomas Albertus Irnberger's musical skill. Michael Korstick studied with J�rgen Tr�ster in Cologne, Hans Leygraf in Hanover, and Sascha Gorodnitzki at the Juilliard School. For his CD recordings, he has been awarded the 'Echo Klassik Prize', the Prize of German Record Critics, several times and the MIDEM Classical Award.

Ingrid Jacoby has established herself as one of the most poetic and admired pianists of her generation. This recording of Beethoven's Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 marks her debut on ICA Classics 'Live' series. Beautifully recorded in the best digital sound there is a palpable feeling of the live performance being created in the Witold Lutoslawski Concert Studio.

This is volume two of Ingrid Jacoby's complete set of Beethoven Piano Concertos. This strongly projected performance of Beethoven's Concerto No.5 is complemented by an all-Beethoven recital which Jacoby recorded in 1991/92, featuring sets of variations, the Andante favori and the op. 119 Bagatelles.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music