Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven performed lightly and rapidly, with passion and premeditation, simply peerless – that’s Sviatoslav Richter.

The Russian Masters archive series brings another gem from Sviatoslav Richter’s abundant Prague legacy. The recording of the three Beethoven sonatas was made at the Rudolfinum on 1 November 1959 within a single evening. One year later, Richter included these sonatas in his celebrated debut recitals at Carnegie Hall.

Owing to his legendary aversion to frequently performed works, during his lifetime he would only play fewer than half of Beethoven’s sonatas on a concert stage. However, Richter did not hesitate to resurrect even the scarcely performed works and was able to breathe new life into the early sonatas, such as Op. 10 No. 3 and Op. 26, in which lovely classicist passages mingle with astonishing invention and energy.

Richter’s take on the “Appassionata” is a milestone in the history of interpretational art. He plays the exposed passages at a seemingly hazardously rapid tempo, without keeping anything in reserve. The performance is passionate in a ravishing manner, yet not lacking in premeditation and a sense of structure. Nothing here is just for the sake of effect. Perhaps it would be apt to paraphrase one of Beethoven’s statements: There are many great pianists, but only one Sviatoslav Richter.

A new hybrid 2SACD set of the opus 59 String Quartets and the String Quintet opus 29 by Ludwig van Beethoven is performed by the Kuijken Quartet and the viola player Marleen Thiers. The Quartet is made up of members of the Kuijken family who are renowned worldwide for their expertise in the performance of music on period instruments.

Around the time the three Rasumovsky Quartets were written, Beethoven’s favourite violinist Ignaz von Schuppanzigh had begun the very first professional string quartet, thus providing Beethoven with an ideal opportunity for the composer to try out his new string quartet ideas. Before this string quartet playing generally took place as private entertainments performed by good amateurs, whereas writing for the Schuppanzigh quartet now meant that Beethoven’s music would be performed at public concerts. The Quartets received their title due to being commissioned by Prince Razumovsky, a great patron of the arts and Russian ambassador in Vienna at the time. The Kuijken Quartet features musicians from the legendary Kuijken family. Cellist Wieland Kuijken has often worked together with his two brothers Barthold and Sigiswald and harpsichordist Robert Kohnen. Sigiswald Kuijken’s technique of playing baroque violin has been adopted by many musicians since the early 1970s. In 1972 he founded the internationally renowned baroque orchestra La Petite Bande, and Sigiswald’s daughter Sara, and Marleen Thiers are both regular members of the group. Violinist Veronica Kuijken regularly performs with the Kammerorchester Basel.

These remastered seventies recordings bring together all the Beethoven overtures. Most of the works are associated with stage works. These included those for the dramas Coriolan, Egmont, King Stephen and the Ruins of Athens, as well as the overture for the ballet music The Creatures of Prometheus. Nameday and The Consecration of the House were written more for representative occasions.

This CD provides a short survey of the development of piano variations, beginning with Mozart’s Duport Variations. The collection also includes works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Chopin. Alejandro Picó-Leonis was born in Alicante and studied in Madrid and New York. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2002.

This year the Hagen Quartet celebrates its 30th anniversary and begins a new collaboration with Myrios Classics. Three members of the quartet are siblings and the ensemble has developed and retained a distinctive character. They will be performing at the Wigmore Hall and Queens Hall Edinburgh in March.

Gerard Willems is one of Australia;s finest concert pianists and Beethoven scholars. He has recorded all the Beethoven sonatas and concertos and has chosen to record the Diabelli on the Australian designed and built Stuart and Sons piano. This instrument features an extra 2 octaves, producing an enhanced resonance and unrivalled sound.

This production was recorded in the Staatsoper Vienna on 27th November 1960.

Recorded: Moscow, 1952-1960