Classical Music

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Beethoven: Sym 3 / Mihul: Les Amazones - Overture - Les Siecles / Francois Roth -Xavier - HARMONIA MUNDI 2021 release.

Édouard Herriot once said, "In Beethoven, everything comes from within. His model is not the rule of the schoolroom." This is particularly true of the late sonatas, which contain elements of both an intimate journal (Romain Rolland saw in Op.101 "a day in the inner life" of Beethoven) and total experimentation (the variations of Op.109) before attaining the mystical serenity of the very last sonata, Op.111. Here is Nikolai Lugansky's powerful vision of this pianistic Everest.

This release, part of harmonia mundi's series celebrating the Beethoven year, pairs the composer's iconic and much-loved Symphony No.5 with the far less well-known Symphony In 17 Parts by Francois-Joseph Gossec. The dramatic power and intensity of Beethoven stands in sharp contrast to to the cheerful and gallant music of Gossec. Les Siècles, led by François-Xavier Roth, apply their usual virtuosity and keen insight to both works in performances that are sure to delight.

 

REVIEW:

 

It is hard to recall a more relentlessly driven performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony than this newcomer...especially in the outer movements. It is not that it sets any new land-speed records, though it is certainly brisk. Rather, Roth elicits a consistent and persistent sense of forward momentum that, allied to a willingness to accentuate the coarser aspects of the period instruments, places this symphony as an irruption of the Classical era rather than a blueprint for musical Romanticism.

 

– BBC Music Magazine

 

 

A fantasy that turned into a symphony? First and foremost, this double album enshrines the exemplary work of an ensemble whose designation 'Baroque Orchestra' by no means limits it's excursions into later repertories: under the watchful eye of a gifted conductor, the 'Freiburgers' (and co.) offer us a profoundly renewed vision of the Ninth, that myth among myths, that touchstone of a genre in quest of the absolute - and the direct descendant of a much earlier 'Choral Fantasy'. The latter work showcased one of Beethoven's most extraordinary talents: improvisation. Kristian Bezuidenhout has joined forces again with his concerto partners to let us experience this little-known score as if it had just been premiered... then transcribed by Beethoven himself! 2020 release.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music