Beethoven: Variations (7) on 'God save the King', WoO 78

Praised by The New York Times for her ‘clear articulation … unequivocal phrasing … [and] expressivity’, Ingrid Jacoby has established herself as one of the most poetic and admired pianists of her generation. She began her piano studies with Larisa Gorodecka, herself a pupil of Heinrich Neuhaus. Graduating at sixteen with highest honours from the St Louis Conservatory of Music, Ingrid Jacoby went on to win the National Baldwin Piano Competition, the Concert Artists Guild International Piano Competition and the Steinway Hall Artists Prize.

In America, the National Society of Arts and Letters awarded to her (in 1994) one of its highest distinctions, the Lifetime Achievement Award. Her discography includes the world premiere recording of Korngold’s solo piano pieces, works by Gershwin and Bernstein, and a recording of the Shostakovich and Ustvolskaya piano concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, which earned the highest commendation from the American Record Guide.

This is Volume 2 of Ingrid Jacoby’s complete set of Beethoven Piano Concertos.

The first CD of Beethoven Concertos 2 & 4 has received wonderful reviews: ‘Jacoby revitalises Beethoven’s Piano Concertos … terrifically and with so much intelligence and energy that all leading competitors pale by comparison.’ (Crescendo magazine, Germany), and ‘Here is a performance of Beethoven that is well-nigh flawless in every regard.’ (International Record Review, UK). This strongly projected performance of Beethoven’s Concerto No.5 is complemented by an all-Beethoven recital which Ingrid Jacoby recorded in 1991–2, featuring sets of variations, the Andante favori and the op.119 Bagatelles. The producer was Tony Faulkner.

The booklet contains notes by Richard Wigmore in addition to personal insights by Ingrid Jacoby on Beethoven interpretation.

The final volume in the series, featuring Beethoven’s Piano Concertos 1 & 3, will be released in the autumn this year.

Brendel’s Beethovian credentials are displayed in this Regis release. The third piano concerto is coupled with four of his most popular sets of variations, including the Eroica, God Save the King and Rule Britannia. Accompaniment is given by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Heinz Wallberg.

These are lesser-known variation cycles, in the main composed by the young Beethoven for his own use as occasional pieces or encores. Appropriately they are performed by a young pianist on his second CD on this label.

Rudolf Buchbinder is firmly established as one of the most important pianists on the international scene, he is a regular guest of such renowned orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, London Philharmonic, National Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has collaborated with the world’s most distinguished conductors including Abbado, Dohnányi, Dudamel, Frühbeck de Burgos, Giulini, Harnoncourt, Maazel, Masur, Mehta, Saraste, Sawallisch and Thielemann and is a regular guest at the Salzburger Festspiele and other major festivals around the world.

The complete Vox, Turnabout and Vanguard solo recordings

Alfred Brendel retires this year from public performance. He will give his last recital in December at Vienna’s Musikverein, in the city where he came to prominence over half a century ago. The recordings he made then for young American labels established in the wake of the Second World War, harnessing young talent in classic repertoire, have stood the test of time. They put down a marker for the music that Brendel would come almost to ‘own’ in the eyes of the piano-music-loving public: the Beethoven concertos and sonatas, Mozart concertos, Schubert, Liszt and Schoenberg. He would later bring deepening insights to the core of the Austro-German repertoire that was his mainstay, but these early recordings are of far more than merely historical value: they are the first, impetuous explorations of a true keyboard lion. Thus there is also music we don’t associate with Brendel, and to which he chose not to return, especially from Russia: Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. In sum, and at a specially reduced price, this is essential listening for anyone interested in piano music and in the career of one of the greatest living pianists.

Many of these performances have scarcely been available on CD: this is the first time they have been gathered together as a set Extensive booklet notes by pianophile Ates Orga, including a conversation piece with Brendel.