Ludwig van Beethoven

Korstick recorded the Waldstein Sonata in 2003 and his performance received euphoric reviews. He has recorded the other two works on this CD for the first time. Once again, his uncompromising exploration of the boundaries of the possible – i.e. following Beethoven’s directions to the performer to the letter – is superb. This CD presents a fascinating cross-section of Beethoven’s sonatas.

This is not the commonly-known two-act version of Fidelio, but the first version in three acts. It is enormously enlightening to take a deeper look at the original version of this great opera. The long dialogue scenes have been replaced by text by Walter Jens and on this recording, these are read by Martin Schab.

Edwin Fischer chose only pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart for his piano-roll recordings. The Sonatas Op.10 No.3 and Op.110 by Beethoven were distributed over several rolls but are brought together on this CD and created anew as coherent structures.

The three major works that Beethoven wrote for violin and orchestra, the Concerto in D Major and the two Romances, are performed on this Hybrid SACD

by the outstanding young violinist Liza Ferschtman and the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend.

Born to Russian parents, Netherlands-based violinist Liza Ferschtman is recognized as one of the most significant artists of her generation. In recent seasons Liza Ferschtman has performed with all the major Dutch orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra, and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and has worked with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Jaap van Zweden, Thierry Fisher, and Christoph von

Dohnányi. In 2006 Liza Ferschtman received the Dutch Music Award 2006, which is the highest distinction awarded to musicians in the Netherlands. She released her debut recording for Challenge Classics in 2007 with music for violin and piano by Beethoven and Schubert (CC72174), which was followed in early 2010 by a disc devoted to the solo violin music of Bach and Ysayë (CC72351).

After a memorable premiere in 1806, nothing was heard of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Then, 38 years later, in 1844, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy conducted a hugely successful performance of the piece during a London Philharmonic Society concert with the then 14-year-old Joseph Joachim as soloist.

The first release from ‘The SODRE Collection’ features legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz with pianist Brooks Smith. Although Jascha Heifetz’s vast discography contains a recording of Vitali’s Chaconne in G Minor with orchestra and organ, this duo recital represents the only occasion he recorded it with piano accompaniment. The live recording was made in Montevideo, Uruguay on 12 May, 1955.