Beethoven: Violin Concerto Movement in C major, WoO 5

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).

Brought together on 5 CDs, the complete Beethoven concertos in performances by great artists and orchestras. In addition to the well-known works — with Daniel Barenboim, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Herbert von Karajan, Yo-Yo Ma, Maurizio Pollini, and others — this specially priced box-set includes rare early works and the piano arrangement of the Violin Concerto. An essential compendium.