The wildly gifted French pianist Marc Ponthus offers a new reading of Beethoven's great "Hammerkavier" sonata; op. 106; pairing it with Karlheinz Stockhausen's explosive Klavierstück X. Serious listening recommended!

Finally: Beethoven's Piano Concertos 0 to 7 as interpreted by Michael Korstick are available on 4 albums, and once again he sets new interpretational standards. In the meantime, volumes have been filled with attempts to approach the question of an adequate interpretation of Beethoven's works, and with the indispensable elements of grandeur, drama and inwardness, the study of these works remains timelessly topical and will continue to open up new perspectives in the future. This complete recording of all the piano concertos arranges the six works that Beethoven gave an opus number in the appropriate order, leaving all the other pieces to follow on the fourth release. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of Dr. Ernst Denert. For his patronage, Michael Korstick was able to fulfil a long-cherished dream.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s artistic greatness is measured not only by his symphonies, piano sonatas, and string quartets but also in the smaller dimensions of songs, duos, and ensemble music. Beethoven also set standards, created new things, and encouraged experiments in these secondary or occasional works – and did so with an impact felt right through to the present, as the arrangements by Andreas N. Tarkmann on this album demonstrate – for example, in the dialogue form between voice or cello and piano and the sound world of winds and strings.

Tarkmann has arranged the twelve variations on a theme from Judas Maccabaeus for octet and fully exploits expanded tone-color resources such as the juxtaposition of wind and string “choirs” in the theme. When Tarkmann was asked whether an arrangement can be better than the original, he replied: “Both the variations and the song collection appealed very much to me as an arranger. Such an arrangement is of course a very precise occupation with the original source, and in both works I had the vision that their compositional qualities would be even more clearly audible in an instrumental version. By this I mean new audio perspectives, the clarification and elaboration of harmonic and formal structures as well as an enrichment of the tone colors.”

The compositions on this album, broadly considered, are connected with Beethoven’s efforts on behalf of the theater, and they also attest to his desire to compose for the larger public without having to lower his standards. The center here is formed by his music for Goethe’s Egmont. The Dutch Count Egmont failed in his resistance against the tyrannous rule of the Duke of Alba and was executed. The decisive factor in Beethoven’s choice of this subject must have been that Goethe himself assigned a dramaturgically important role to music above all at the end of his play, and in his composition Beethoven followed these pretextual givens to the letter. When Egmont, in prison prior to his execution, sees the vision of his beloved Klärchen as the personification of liberty, then Egmont’s words and the musically designed vision join together in a melodrama. The album also includes three overtures and Wellington’s Victory, in which Beethoven combines the older tradition of the “battaglia,” the musical depiction of a battle, with victory pathos. Its effect lies not so much in the masterful treatment of the musical material itself as in the development of a spatial dimension for a realistic battle scene and in the big sound overpowering the listener, in short: in its theatrical character. During Beethoven’s lifetime it was his most successful composition.

The focus of our further cooperative effort with the Cappella Aquileia and Marcus Bosch – for the Beethoven Year and with “Beethoven and the Theater” as its theme – is formed by a complete recording of this composer’s stage music for Konig Stephan (King Stephen). Archduke Franz Josef Karl of Austria had a new theater built for the city of Pest as a reward for the loyalty of the Hungarians to the Austrian monarchy. As was fitting for the occasion, Beethoven was given the commission for music commemorating the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary by King Stephen I, and the music was premiered in the new edifice in 1812. The text for Konig Stephan was penned by August von Kotzebue and surely would have been forgotten long ago if not for Beethoven’s music. The pathos and hero worship in its verses are not so easily grasped today, but this should not stand in the way of the work’s performance. Understood as a historical memorial, Konig Stephan, in particular in the meticulous modernization of the text produced by Kai Weßler for this recording, is a rewarding work. Three versions each of the Leonore Overture and the Fidelio Overture round off the album.

The focus of our second collaborative venture with the Cappella Aquileia and Marcus Bosch for the Beethoven Year is formed by the complete recording of The Ruins of Athens, an incidental composition penned by Beethoven for the opening of the recently constructed theater in Pest (today: Budapest) in 1812 and an occasional work set to a text by the then popular writer August von Kotzebue. Those who perform this work today are faced with a dilemma. If they perform Beethoven’s music without the spoken text, then a work in which language and music are closely intertwined is reduced to an arbitrary sequence of musical numbers. However, if they perform The Ruins of Athens with Kotzebue’s text, then they confront audiences with a political metaphor that without explanation would cause today’s listeners to shake their heads (at least) in bewilderment. In a new version Kai Weßler has endeavored to update Beethoven’s important idea of a classical-humanistic heritage embodied by Pallas Athena and to free it from the political connotations current during his times (and from Hungarian nationalism). The twofold goal was on the one hand to situate The Ruins of Athens in its time of composition during a period of social and political upheavals and on the other hand once again to render audible and intelligible the symbolism of the work (Athens as the cradle of European civilization, etc.). In order to find a language that can hold its own with the pathos of Beethoven’s music, Weßler assembled fragments from poems by Friedrich Schiller, mounting them in a collage. It hardly needs to be stressed that Beethoven not only esteemed Schiller as a poet but also shared his idea that art exists to change the world as a “moral instance” (instead of merely supporting the high and mighty).

Experience the full scope of Beethoven's musical evolution with this comprehensive collection of his 35 piano sonatas, meticulously organized in chronological order to offer a panoramic view of his artistic journey, tracing Beethoven's transformative progression as a composer.

While opus numbers traditionally guide the dating of Beethoven's works, exceptions abound, notably in the case of the Opus 49 Sonatas. This collection challenges the conventional exclusion of the early "Kurfurst" Sonatas, shedding light on Beethoven's formative years as a composer. Musicologist Professor Barry Cooper's advocacy for their inclusion, based on their publication by Beethoven himself and their intrinsic merit, finds resonance in this comprehensive set.

Pianist Tamami Honma brings these sonatas to life with precision, adhering closely to Cooper's editorial corrections in the ABRSM edition. Cooper's meticulous research, comparing original manuscripts, early editions, and historical sources, ensures an authentic interpretation of Beethoven's intentions, from note values to nuanced articulation. This collection is not merely a recording; it is a vibrant testament to Beethoven's brilliance, offering a fresh perspective on his extraordinary works.

If you fancy a set of the Beethoven piano concertos that’s suitable for listening to at a single sitting, then look no further. The ingredients are ideal for the job: abundant energy; bold, clear-sighted interpretation; brilliant though intelligently deployed pianism; poetic handling of the various slow movements; vital conducting and orchestral playing that fits the ‘chamber orchestra’ template like a glove. Vladar’s conducting is again excellent but it’s his playing and conducting that really makes the grade. The sound is very realistic, though be warned that the piano is very much upfront. An exceptional set.

– Gramophone

Capriccio presents a re-release of Beethoven repertoire for voice and piano featuring baritone Hermann Prey and soprano Pamela Coburn. This special priced 3 CD set includes rarely recorded pieces such as 8 Lieder op.52, Lobkowitz-Cantata and Der Jüngling in der Fremde.

Classical Music

Pastoral Reflections is a contemporary exploration on what the concept of ‘Pastoral’ means to us in this time of climate crisis. It features classical string sextet alongside field recordings, electronic bass & angular beats, centered around Gabriel Prokofiev’s contemporary response to Beethoven's 250 year old Pastoral Symphony.

The Album opens with the original first movement of Beethoven’s famous symphony (arranged for sextet) - reminding listeners of our less troubled relationship with nature 250 years ago - before moving on to the modern beats of Prokofiev’s recent composition Breaking Screens, which explores ideas of consumerism, digital life and impending crisis. The programme climaxes with 5 movement 'Pastoral Reflections' which echoes Beethoven’s symphonic narrative, but from a contemporary perspective.

He is probably the most famous German "prince of poets" - but music also accompanied Goethe throughout his life: His parents played music and he himself learnt to play several instruments. Naturally, he was interested in having his poems set to music - although he was strict in his requirements. Carl Friedrich Zelter set the poetry to music very "carefully"; in his songs, the rhythm of speech takes centre stage. This obviously corresponded to Goethe's ideas, as he wrote to him in a letter: "I immediately feel that your compositions are identical to my songs, the music only takes the balloon up with it, like an inflowing gas. With other composers, I first have to realise how they took the song, what they made of it." Fortunately, not all of them adhered to Goethe's ideas and thought more independently in terms of composition. This creates a fascinating field of tension between the very different approaches of contemporaries.

Beethoven’s music has always lain at the heart of Gianluca Cascioli’s research into interpretation. What distinguishes the present work is above all the choice of instrument: a fortepiano modelled on an 1805 Anton Walter built by Paul McNulty, an instrument equipped with both a moderator and the una corda stop, like the one that Beethoven asked the same builder to make in 1802. The recording is in fact dedicated to works composed and published between the years 1796 and 1802.

The interest in historical performance practices and original sources, which has increasingly become a defining mark of Cascioli’s performances, is another evident characteristic of this new recording, which features, among other things, arpeggiated chords, embellishments, ornamented fermatas and the use of rubato. All decisions on such matters, however, are always firmly founded on the sources, methods and treatises of Beethoven’s own day, as the artist himself explains in the interview included in the liner notes. Cascioli has now arrived at his twelfth recording of works by the great composer – the first for Arcana, after many issued on distinguished labels like Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi.

Korusa (Sujung Cho and Jacob Clark, piano) perform the Complete Piano Duets by Beethoven. This is great Beethoven literature that is heard far too infrequently, here presented in superb performances.

Classical Music