Beethoven Schmann

Since its formation in 1975, the Takács Quartet has been recognized as one of the world's leading string quartets. Their award-winning recordings include the complete Beethoven String Quartets for Decca, recorded between 2002 and 2004. Decca Classics celebrates the acclaimed quartet with this multi-media presentation of the Beethoven quartets on 7 CDs,

The genre of string quartet emerged in the middle of the eighteenth century as music for leisure, but the works of Haydn and Mozart turned it into a phenomenon of high art. Beethoven continued the tradition by creating sixteen string quartets between 1799 and 1826. Almost all of them were devised for the professional string quartet formed in the 1790s in Vienna and led by Ignaz Schuppanzigh. The ensemble was in the service of Prince Karl Lichnowsky and Count Andrei Razumovsky who were patrons of art, and began to perform chamber music in public concerts in the 1820s.

Rudolf Buchbinder is one of the legendary artists of our time. His piano playing is an unparalleled fusion of the authority of a career spanning more than 60 years with spirit and spontaneity. Few musicians have engaged with Beethoven's music as intensively and over such a long period as legendary Austrian Maestro Rudolf Buchbinder. He has performed the 32 piano sonatas 60 times in cycles all over the world and developed the story of their interpretation over decades. At the Salzburger Festspiele in 2014 he was the first pianist ever playing all 32 Sonatas on several recitals in one festival season.

Beethoven’s influence over the string quartet was profound; in his hands, the genre acquired a new significance, becoming a powerful vehicle for the expression and exploration of an inner world. Featured in this box set is the Alban Berg Quartett’s acclaimed recording of the complete cycle, a showcase of the group’s accomplished artistry and seamless ensemble playing.

After a formidable first volume, Cedric Tiberghien continues his exploration of Beethoven's corpus of variations. At the heart of this new album are the famous Thirty-two Variations in C minor and their tangy reminiscences of Bach - the Ciaccona from Partita No.2 for violin solo, presented here in Brahms's masterly transcription. He also takes the opportunity to show us what a certain school of American composers (Crumb, Cage, Feldman) has made of this tradition of variation form.

After a formidable first volume, Cedric Tiberghien continues his exploration of Beethoven's corpus of variations.

Cédric Tiberghien has long been interested in the principle of Beethovenian variation, as is demonstrated by a recording he made for harmonia mundi twenty years ago.

Why is Beethoven one of the most revered composers in the history of Western music? Professor Robert Greenberg answers: "Beethoven possessed a unique gift for communication. He radiated an absolute directness that makes his music totally accessible. The sheer emotional power of his music is readily understood. His revolutionary compositional ideas are easily appreciated. And his nine symphonies are among the greatest achievements of the human spirit." Enjoy one of the best courses of Teaching Co.