Beethoven: Romance No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra in F major, Op. 50

Beethoven's three works for violin and orchestra make an excellent integral recording, and this historic recording by the great Adolf Busch is of more than intriguing interest. Adolf Busch was one of the greatest violinists of the century, and his performances of the works by Beethoven achieved legendary status. We are particularly pleased to offer this collection of great performances by the master-violinist of his generation in very good refurbished sound.

This recording of a live performance of music by the young Beethoven – his first operatic, symphonic and concert masterpieces – features one of the best of the newer ensembles on the international scene, Le Cercle de L’Harmonie under its conductor Jérémie Rhorer. The lively and innovative programme includes the early dramatic scene “Ah Perfido”, the concert aria “No non turbati”, “O wär’ ich schon mit dir verein” (an aria from the first version of Fidelio, which was titled “Leonore”), as well as his First Symphony, and the first of the two Romances for violin and orchestra.

Formed in April 2005 in Deauville by Jeremy Rhorer and Julien Chauvin (first violin), le Cercle de l’Harmonie soon established itself as a significant force in the performance of great symphonic and operatic repertoires of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The ensemble is now invited to appear at major venues – including London’s Barbican Hall in June – and with artists such as Diana Damrau and Philippe Jaroussky, with whom it has recorded two CDs for Virgin Classics. This, the first in a series of productions for Ambroisie, presents Jérémie Rhorer’s first recording of works by Beethoven.

Today the music of Beethoven is regarded as a remarkable link in the chain of evolution of Western music, a judgement that is based mainly on the pieces he composed after 1800. However there was in his artistic development a transitional period, around the turn of the century, when the works he composed appear to belong to the Classical tradition while presenting ideas that were to be developed later. This recording features the major works of that period, the Symphony No. 1 in C major, and the Romance for violin and orchestra in F major, op. 50. There are also three vocal works on the disc, the aria “O wär’ ich schon mit dir verein” from “Leonore”, the first version of Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio”, the dramatic scene “Ah Perfido”, and the concert aria “No non turbati”.

When the violin maestro Josef Suk, celebrating his 80th birthday this year, recorded for Supraphon a CD of Antonín Dvorák’s and Josef Suk’s chamber works (SU 3976-2) last year, the reviewers marvelled at the album’s intimate mood, tone and interpretational directness. These attributes are also characteristic of his latest release, “Romance”. On these 30-year-old recordings, Suk is backed by the two finest Czech orchestras. The album is abounding in the very qualities synonymous with Suk’s illustrious name: the beautiful, mellow and cultivated tone of his Stradivarius, sparkling technique and depth of feeling. These pieces by Czech and foreign composers are as though tailored to Suk’s virtuosity.

Award-winning Moldovan violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja presents a new vision of Beethoven’s complete works for violin and orchestra. She is accompanied by the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées under the direction of esteemed Belgian conductor Philippe Herreweghe.

The release offers us fresh insights into Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, op.61 based on historical evidence, using period instruments. Kopatchinskaja contributes her own adaptations of Beethoven’s original cadenzas for the piano version of the concerto. The Romances are performed here in a simple, lyrical style typical of the slow movements of late 18th-century French violin concertos. Alongside the Concerto and the Romances, the recording features the rarely recorded Fragment: the only known part of an unfinished Concerto in C major.

Kopatchinskaja’s first CD on Naïve last year, a recital with Fazil Say, received sensational reviews and was awarded the Excellentia Award of the Magazine "Pizzicato" (Luxembourg), as well as the ECHO-Klassik award 2009. Earlier this year, she was heard performing Fazil Say’s colourful violin concerto, ‘1001 Nights in the Harem’, also on Naïve (V5147).