Beethoven Beethoven 7

Chef d'oeuvre de fraîcheur et d'invention mélodique, l'Octuor de Mendelssohn, exprime le génie précoce d'un jeune homme de seize ans. Cet effectif élargi peut se combiner par la réunion de deux quatuors (les Smetana & Janacek, les Kocian & Prazak…) ou être confié à des formations ad hoc, comme le Wiener Oktett que nous entendons ici dans sa formation tardive de 1972, menée par Anton Fietz au premier archet. Les instrumentistes autrichiens privilégient la souplesse du matériau à la vigueur de l'élan, adouci par la texture fondue de leur sonorité suave.

Superior historical music making by three masters of the genre. The sound is clear but typical of its period. The transfers (from 78RPM recordings) are really amazing.

The 11 works Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) created for piano trio make up a group of pieces equally remarkable as his 16 string quartets. With over half of them written before 1800, prior to the composer's turning 30, they clearly reveal his creative flights and struggles, first and foremost serving to attest to the grand formation of Beethoven's compositional principles and the attainment of his apex. The present 4-CD album features the Suk Trio, who soon after their establishment in 1951 gained international renown and recognition. The recordings of Beethoven's piano trios for Japan's Nippon Columbia, completed within a short timeframe, from June 1983 to April 1984, were made by the mature ensemble when it included the violinist Josef Suk, the cellist Josef Chuchro and the pianist Josef Hála, who in 1980 had replaced Jan Panenka.

Jan Caeyers is a Belgian conductor, musicologist, Beethoven expert and biographer. His passion for Viennese classical music, and Beethoven in particular, has resulted in a long history of conducting in European concert halls.

These recordings were made between 1937 and 1942, and they represent the sum of Mengelberg's commercially released Beethoven for the Telefunken label.