Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral'

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Listening to No. 9 on the piano is a curious experience, but if the variety of tone-colour of the orchestral (and vocal) original is inevitably diminished, the music's harmonic boldness and astringency... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2016, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 22nd Jan 2016
Catalogue No: ALPHA227
Label: Alpha
Series: Yury Martynov Beethoven/Liszt cycle
Length: 70 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

April 2016

Editor's Choice

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral'

Work length1:10:49

Album only

Yury Martynov
Recorded: 21-25 September 2015
Recording Venue: Doppsgezinde Gemeente, Haarlem, Netherlands

I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso (Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt, S. 464 / 9)

Track length14:55

$2.05

$3.05

$4.05

II. Molto vivace (Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt, S. 464 / 9)

Track length14:29

$2.05

$3.05

$4.05

III. Adagio molto e cantabile (Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt, S. 464 / 9)

Track length16:00

Album only

IV. Finale (Presto) [Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt, S. 464 / 9]

Track length25:25

Album only

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After four previous discs devoted to Franz Liszt’s transcriptions of the Beethoven symphonies, the pianist Yury Martynov completes the cycle with the transcription of the Ninth Symphony. The reduction of this complex work for a single piano and two hands – he had already adapted it for two pianos – constituted a genuine challenge for Liszt, who was obliged to omit certain inner parts. Yet he succeeded in reproducing the symphony’s prodigious character and revealing its incredible power. The piano combines the orchestra,

the soloists and the chorus, unifying these disparate voices in a single instrument. The work’s energy and its textures are displayed to the full in Yury Martynov’s performance on a Blüthner piano dating from 1867 and belonging to the Edwin Beunk collection.

Reviews

April 2016

Listening to No. 9 on the piano is a curious experience, but if the variety of tone-colour of the orchestral (and vocal) original is inevitably diminished, the music's harmonic boldness and astringency are thrown all the more vividly into relief…especially in the hands of a virtuoso like Yury Martynov. His performance is altogether a tour de force

April 2016

from the beginning, with Martynov's skilful evocation of the lightning-bolt open fifths piercing the ominous clouds that cloak the Ninth's first moments, the overwhelming impression is not of reduction but of an enlargement, an opening out, a sudden clarification of this familiar music…the metamorphosis from the storm unleashed at the opening of the finale to the imploring earnestness of the 'Ode to Joy' is stunningly affecting

11th February 2016

the result, in Martynov’s exceptional hands, is thrilling and remarkable...The double fugue at the climax of the finale is especially dazzling, and Martynov’s handling of it equally remarkable, and in all four movements there are details usually obscured in orchestral performances which come to light, thanks to his meticulous phrasing and colouring of every bar.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral'

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