“Who would I need to be to be able to talk about a man who is still growing…” (Adam Zagajewski: “The late Beethoven”) Margarita Höhenrieder and I have known it all our lives: the elucidations of Carl Czerny or Rudolf Kolisch, the latest Urtext editions that will lead us to “faithfulness to the text”, the disquisitions from Romain Rolland to Eleonore Büning – we read, we discuss, it all seems helpful and necessary. At the end of the day it is the mature individual, the serious exponent, who makes the decision led by the promptings of conscience, and who simultaneously senses this “growing” of which Zagajewski speaks. We climb a steep path, in order to approach Beethoven more closely. The summit of this path is visible, but not attainable. That is why we keep returning to this path, endless as it is. Beethoven lives in us, as he changes, as we change. Life aspires to art, art is a way forward, life is our way forward. Beethoven changes us through his “growth”. We grow with him!

The Smetana Quartet are a true legend. For over four decades (1945-1989), the ensemble gained critical acclaim and enthused audiences all over world, particularly in the UK, USA and Japan. They attained perfect chime and extraordinary flexibility in voice leading, resulting in part from their playing the entire repertoire by heart. The quartet performed Beethoven’s works throughout their existence – following Smetana, he was the composer on whose music they focused the most and whose complete quartets were in their repertoire from 1974 onwards. They explored some of Beethoven’s pieces for several years before including them in their concert programmes. In collaboration with a Supraphon team, in 1978 the ensemble embarked upon a colossal project, which in 1985 came to fruition with the release on Nippon Columbia of a recording of the complete Beethoven string quartets. Even though the past decade has seen significant changes pertaining to interpretation and technology, the Smetana Quartet’s account of Beethoven’s works is by no means a “museum exhibit”, with their vivacity and dynamism still enthralling today’s listeners. The recording, carefully digitally remastered from the original analogue tapes, is the very first release beyond Japan.

Hans Rosbaud was one of the few great conductors in his time, who hardly performed outside Germany, Switzerland and France but nevertheless gained international reputation, virtually legendary status. And certainly: had he conducted more often in Anglo-Saxon countries and made more records, he would be much better-known today and internationally appreciated as one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. This is the new installment of the series dedicated to the SWR recordings of the conductor Hans Rosbaud. It contains all Beethoven's Symphonies and Overtures Rosbaud has recorded for the SWR, among them two different versions of the 8th Symphony. There are however no recordings of the 8th and the 4th. Additionally, famous interpreters Ginette Neveu and Géza Anda are to be heard on this album with the Violin Concert, respectively with the Piano Concert No.5, also not less famous Trio di Trieste with the Triple Concert.

Alongside the many works of Beethoven that are staples of the concert repertoire there are a number of piano pieces that have not received as much attention as their more famous siblings and remain infrequently performed. This recording (with the notable exception of "F�r Elise") is dedicated to these works. Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 20th-century composers. A regular guest soloist with leading symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad, he appears in the most prestigious concert series and music festivals all over the world.

The young violinist Lena Neudauer is a multifaceted and versatile artist who fascinates audiences with the naturalness and straightforwardness with which she plays the violin, as if it were part of her own body. For the Beethoven Year 2020 she now interprets his Violin Concerto and two Romances: “In this concerto I feel like a part of something much greater, which is a very elating feeling. At the same time an enormous reverence for the perfection and beauty of the whole is aroused in me.” Lena Neudauer’s personal impression of the perfect synthesis between soloist and orchestra is shared by many famous violinists, including the Russian violinist Nathan Milstein: “It is a miracle, something that has come to us from the ethereal heights like a divine message. We can engage in endless discussion about the revelations that Beethoven's concerto imparts to us.” And together with the Cappella Aquileia and the conductor Marcus Bosch, the solo and orchestral parts indeed do unite to form a perfect union.

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The kind of ‘popular’, socially functional dance music which is quite prominent in the work of, say, Haydn and Mozart plays a less central role – for all kind of obvious reasons – in the output of Beethoven. But such music does exist, and here is a fine, richly enjoyable anthology of it.

The twelve German Dances (WoO 8) were written for the annual masked ball of the Pension Society of Viennese Painters, held on 14th November, 1795. The society had a tradition of commissioned distinguished composers to write new music for the ball – Beethoven’s predecessors included Haydn and Dittersdorf. The young Beethoven’s contribution is, by his standards, rather slight in nature, but the dances have real charm and are not without a degree of sophistication. No.6, for example, employs some unexpected accents over a pseudo-rustic drone in a manner that is quite engaging. No.5 has some pleasant writing for the clarinets; no.10 makes entertaining use of the piccolo and of the triangle and tambourine in a kind of alla turca idiom. No.12 has a surprising coda, with a solo for posthorn, before a rather grand conclusion – so grand, indeed, that it must surely have taken the dancers by surprise!

The six minuets (WoO 9) belong to the same period, but are for strings alone (supplemented here by a harp). They are simple pieces, pleasantly melodic and largely unambitious in execution. In no.3 the alternations between pizzicato and arco are attractive; in no.5 the triplet accompaniment by the second violins has a particular grace.

Beethoven’s 12 contredanses (kontretänze) (WoO 14) were again written for the ballrooms of Vienna, a few years after the earlier sets of dances. They are lively and politely brilliant. In some of them one seems to detect touches that belong to Beethoven rather than just to the genre in which he was writing. It is certainly interesting to note that the seventh and the 11th dances share material with Beethoven’s ballet music The Creatures of Prometheus; the seventh is also echoed in the final movement of the Eroica.

The final set of dances on this CD belongs to a later period. The eleven ‘Mödlinger’ dances were, it seems likely, written in the wooded suburb of Vienna which bears that name, in 1819. That, we should remind ourselves, is the year of the Hammerklavier sonata and of the commencement of the Ninth symphony. These, in short, are the work of a fully mature Beethoven. Beethoven had real financial problems at this time, so it may well be that these dances were written for primarily commercial reasons; but it would, I think, be wrong to imagine that Beethoven didn’t take their composition at all ‘seriously’. Certainly they are far more sophisticated than the dances considered so far. They explore a range of forms – there are four waltzes, five minuets and two ländlers. There is a genial smile to all of the music; there are plenty of sparkling passages as, quite without condescension, Beethoven writes wonderfully accessible music. But it is also music that gets better at second and third hearings. These are delightful, small-scale masterpieces, in their own way just as worthy of attention as the far greater works that Beethoven wrote at much the same time.

The performances of L’Orfeo Barockorchester, playing on period instruments and directed by Michi Gaigg, are exemplary. The sense of scale is perfectly judged, distinctions of tempo and rhythm are clear but unexaggerated; the sound of the winds is particularly well-blended and the strings play with zestfully clear articulation. The sense is of an orchestra that sounds as though it is enjoying its work and is eager to share its own pleasure. One doesn’t often get the chance to hear these dances – and one certainly doesn’t often get the chance to hear them played so well, with both energy and sensitivity.

-- Glyn Pursglove, MusicWeb International

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The young Chinese pianist Jingge Yan is known for his intellectual profundity and the expressive vitality of his piano performance. His beautiful and philosophical interpretation of Beethoven's piano works has been greatly praised all over the world. In 2015, Jingge Yan was entitled the first 'Beethoven Ambassador' by the city Bonn and has been since then a dedicated leading musician for the music education for the youth and artistic communication between Europe and China. Since 2016 he has been pursuing an ambitious project: the complete recording of the piano sonatas, of which the third episode is now being released here. Jingge Yan, born in Beijing in 1986, had his first piano lessons at the age of four. From 2007 to 2011 he studied at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio (USA) with Prof. Peter Takacs and graduated with a Bachelor's degree for piano and organ. At present he is continuing his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Prof. Pavel Gililov.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music