Beethoven: Quintet in E flat major for piano and winds, Op.16

Second volume in the cycle of Beethoven’s piano concertos performed by François-Frédéric Guy, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Philippe Jordan. François-Frédéric Guy is now firmly established as a pianist of immense interpretative authority and superlative technique. With his exceptional command of keyboard sonority he has a special gift for music of the grandest scale, such as the major works of Brahms, Liszt and Beethoven. His recording of Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata for Naïve was recently picked as BBC Radio 3’s “Building a Library” choice. Philippe Jordan is one of the rising stars of the conductor’s world. He has recently been appointed as Music Director of the Opera National de Paris, starting in the 2009-10 season.

The Fourth Piano Concerto was dedicated to Beethoven’s friend, student, and patron, the Archduke Rudolph, and its first public took place on the 22nd of December 1808 in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien, where the composer himself took the stage as soloist. This was part of a marathon concert which saw Beethoven's last appearance as a soloist with orchestra, as well as the premieres of the Choral Fantasy and the Fifth and Sixth symphonies. After its first performance, the piece was neglected until 1836, when it was revived by Felix Mendelssohn. Today, it is widely performed and recorded, considered one of the central works of the piano concerto literature. The Quintet in E flat for Piano and Winds, Op. 16, was written in 1796. It was inspired by Mozart's work, K. 452, which is likewise in E flat and has the same scoring.

An absolute must as a coupling as no other quintets have been written for this combination of instruments as such a high level.

Recording dates from 1997

The wind soloists all hold major positions in leading Dutch orchestras such as the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble. They also hold key posts at the conservatories of The Hague and Rotterdam.

Pianist Klára Würtz was taught by Zoltán Kocsis, and has taken masterclasses with András Schiff.

Apart from extensive tours of the US, and many appearances on French, Irish, American and Dutch TV, she has a busy concert schedule in the Netherlands where she lives. She has recorded extensively for Brilliant Classics.

K452 is an undisputed masterpiece. Each instrument is in effect a virtuoso soloist, and Mozart’s writing for them all is masterful. It dates from the most intensive creative period in Mozart’s life, 1784–7, between which time he produced twelve piano concertos, a horn concerto, a symphony, five quintets for various combinations of instruments, five string quartets, two piano quartets, three trios, five sonatas, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, plus Der Schauspieldirektor, Eine kleine Nachtmusik and several shorter works – an extraordinary achievement, even by his standards.

Without doubt, the young Beethoven would have been familiar with this work. In 1792 he had arrived in Vienna as a highly praised piano virtuoso and composer for his instrument. Beethoven’s early chamber works (with the exception of the Op.1 trios and the Op.5 cello sonatas) are for winds, and Mozart’s work provided the model for the Piano Quintet Op.16 in the same way as the Second Piano Concerto Op.1 is the most ‘Mozartian’ of his concertos. However, far from being ‘Mozartian’ in sound, Beethoven’s forceful and unique piano-writing and his robust Haydnesque humour (he had recently finished his studies with Haydn) mark this work as one of his early masterpieces. It dates from 1796.

‘With players of this quality and experience, one approaches these two pieces with a degree of confidence which proves justified… these fine artists blend beautifully and are at one stylistically. The members of this fine ensemble relish the most characteristic passages…’ Gramophone