Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Concerto in C major for Violin, Cello and Piano has always been treated as an oddity in the Beethoven oeuvre. Infrequently performed, the work is actually better than history would have us believe and deserves to be more popular. The Triple Concerto receives loving treatment on this new recording which is notable for the synchronicity shared by the three soloists. The trio triumphs because they are at complete ease with all of the work's shifting moods. They soar in full-voiced splendor in the heroic opening Allegro, sing with chamber music-like intimacy in the pensive Largo, and dance in the rambunctious Rondo alla polacca finale.
If the Triple Concerto is an oddity then the Piano Concerto in D major op.61a is certainly Beethoven's bastard child. Commissioned by the pianist/publisher Muzio Clementi in 1807, the work is an adaptation of the Violin Concerto written in 1806. Pianist Jenö Jandó is an ideal performer for this music and his Mozartean conception of the work is completely successful. Jandó is ably supported by the Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia under the direction of Béla Drahos. While none of these performers are household names, they are skilled Beethoven interpreters deserving wider recognition.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Beethoven: Septet; Mozart: Horn Quintet by Berliner Solisten These are essential works: The Septet Op. 20 (introduced to the world at the same concert as Symphony No. 1) was Beethoven's most popular composition during his lifetime. The third movement is particularly famous to this day. In six movements, this unique combination of winds and strings has countless melodies, fast and slow, with Ludwig's usual humorous and sometimes twist on sounds associated with Mozart and Haydn. Mozart's Horn Quintet might surpass his four Horn Concertos as his greatest work for that instrument. At the time he composed it he said it was one of his best compositions.

Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 132 and Hess 34

The Cypress String Quartet completes their cycle of the genre’s greatest oeuvre with a two-album set of Beethoven’s six ground-breaking quartets, Op. 18, alongside a reissue of their previously self-released recording of the late quartets. For the past several seasons, the Cypresses have immersed themselves in performing Beethoven on tours throughout the U.S. and Europe as well as recording all 16 works plus the “Grande Fugue” (Große Fuge). The completion of their Beethoven cycle is a fitting celebration of the Bay Area-based ensemble’s 20th anniversary, as well as their valedictory season.

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REVIEW:

The Cypress Quartet’s Beethoven readings have numerous virtues. The interpretations are well thought through, and the group’s beauty of tone and unanimity of ensemble are unfailing.

– MusicWeb International