Beethoven Selections of Contredanses

This is the start of a Beethoven Symphonies cycle (Nos. 1-9) with Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The Beethoven cycle of the 21st century!
3 Documentaries - In a one-hour-long film for each symphony Maestro Thielemann and Joachim Kaiser (Germany´s most famous music critic) discuss and analyze in an entertaining conversational exchange Thielemann’s interpretation, complemented by excerpts from rehearsals as well as comparisons of Beethoven cycles with Karajan, Bernstein etc. – no aspect of Beethoven’s symphonic œuvre will remain unaffected!

Newly reissued on CD, Denon Classics presents this specially budget-priced album featuring the legendary Russian pianist performing a live concert program of three Beethoven sonatas, which have been out of print and unavailable at retail. In these 1960s-era recordings, Richter is one with the heroic spirit gathering in Beethoven's development of the sonata form, bringing to it the interpretive power that only Richter could. Richter's Beethoven performances always have the incomparable urgency amd the transcendental quality no pianists nowadays are able to produce.

With numerous available recordings of Beethoven's music for cello and piano available, one might wonder what British cellist Steven Isserlis has to add on this Hyperion release, which includes not only the five Beethoven cello sonatas but three entertaining early sets of variations and a transcription, by Beethoven himself, of the Horn Sonata in F major, Op. 17. The answer lies in Isserlis' decision to record the works with a fortepiano, in this case an instrument built by American-Czech maker Paul McNulty and based on a Viennese Walter model of 1805.

The Beethoven cycle of the 21st century! Christian Thielemanns and Wiener Philharmonikers recording of BEETHOVEN 9 had been their first recording in HD of all nine Beethoven symphonies, accompanied by nine hour-long documentaries, one on each symphony, featuring Thielemann and Prof. Joachim Kaiser. From insights into Beethovens musical thinking to interpretational comparisons, including excerpts from performances by Karajan, Böhm, Bernstein, Järvi etc., to historical perspectives no aspect of Beethovens symphonic oeuvre will remain untreated! Thielemanns recordings of the Beethoven symphonies stand head and shoulders above the countless and mostly undistinguishable versions on offer. (Die Presse) The Vienna Philharmonic literally grew beyond itself that evening in the Konzerthaus. (Neue Züricher Zeitung) Missa Solemnis: Thielemann conjured up the gigantic cosmos of the Missa with such lightness and grace that its mystery seemed to reveal itself.