Beethoven: The Piano Concertos / Brautigam, Willens, Cologne Academy

$34.99
Label
BIS
Release Date
November 1, 2019
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN
    • PERFORMER
      Brautigam, Die Kolner Akademie, Willens
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      November 01, 2019
    • UPC
      7318599922744
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      BIS-2274
    • LABEL
      BIS
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Allegro con brio

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    2. II. Largo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    3. III. Rondo: Allegro

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    4. I. Allegro con brio

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    5. II. Adagio

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    6. III. Rondo: Molto allegro

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    7. I. Allegro moderato

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    8. II. Andante con moto

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    9. III. Rondo: Vivace

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    10. I. Allegro con brio

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    11. II. Largo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    12. III. Rondo: Allegro

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    13. I. Allegro

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    14. II. Adagio un poco moto -

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens

    15. III. Rondo: Allegro

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Ensemble: Orchester der Kölner Akademie

      Performer: Ronald Brautigam

      Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens


As one of the finest pianists of his era and an improviser of genius, Ludwig van Beethoven’s preferred vehicle for musical exploration was the piano. His earliest composition, from 1782, was a set of piano variations and he continued to compose for solo piano until the last years of his life. His interest in the concerto form diminished as his deafness forced him to retire from performing. Nonetheless, with his five piano concertos composed between 1788 and 1809, Beethoven not only achieved a brilliant conclusion to the Classical piano concerto, but also established a new model for the Romantic era: a sort of symphony with obbligato piano which remained a reference point well into the beginning of the twentieth. Ronald Brautigam has already recorded these seminal works with the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, in acclaimed performances released between 2008 and 2010. Since then he has also released all of Beethoven’s solo piano music on the fortepiano to universal praise. When Brautigam now returns to the concertos, it is in the company of conductor Michael Alexander Willens and Die Kolner Akademie playing on period instruments. The same team has previously partnered him in an 11-album survey of Mozart’s piano concertos and it is plain to hear that all involved clearly relish the opportunity to congratulate Beethoven on the eve of his 250th anniversary.

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REVIEW:

Textures are bracingly lean, with a lightness and transparency that seems airborne. There’s nothing pompous or heavyhanded in these readings. Both Brautigam and Willens are alive to Beethoven’s every indication on the page, and that most precious of all commodities in music, the life of the phrase, is sacrosanct. Original, stylish and authoritative, this concerto set is a worthy and thought-provoking contribution to the recordings marking the Beethoven year.

– Gramophone