Beethoven

Christa Ludwig She is the charm, the style and the spirit of Vienna personified. This great Mozartian and Straussian mezzo-soprano made her mark over fifty years, on stage and on record. Her father was a tenor, her mother a famous mezzo-soprano who sang Fidelio, Elektra or Azucena under Karajan's baton at Aix-la-Chapelle. She was Christa's first teacher and it is thanks to her that she learned all the dos and don'ts of singing. She made her début at the age of 18 in the Viennese operetta which was then playing in all the biggest German theatres, as was the rule at the time. In 1955, she joined the troupe of the Vienna Opera, of which she became the Kammersängerin, a prestigious distinction awarded to singers in theatres in the German-speaking world.

Originally planned for April 2020 in celebration of Beethoven's 250th birthday, this recording of Beethoven's symphonies is the third composer-led collaboration between Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the COE having previously performed and recorded together complete Schumann and Mendelssohn cycles in 2014 and 2017 respectively. This Symphony Cycle was going to use the now complete performance material featuring the musical text of the "New Beethoven Complete Edition".

The events of Beethoven's life are the stuff of Romantic legend, evoking images of the solitary creator shaking his fist at Fate and finally overcoming it through a supreme effort of creative will. His compositions, which frequently pushed the boundaries of tradition and startled audiences with their originality and power, are considered by many to be the foundation of 19th century musical principals.

Above the album worked the UMG Records 'Ludwig van Beethoven - Beethoven', and his release took place on 2020. The album has got 36 songs with a total duration of more than an hour. A compilation is a compilation of original music.

A precocious child, Argerich began nursery aged two years and eight months, where she was the youngest child. A five-year-old boy, who was a friend, teased her that she would not be able to play the piano, and Argerich responded by playing perfectly, by ear, a piece their teacher played them. The teacher immediately called the mother and they "started making a fuss." She started learning the piano at the age of three. At the age of five, she moved to teacher Vincenzo Scaramuzza, who stressed to her the importance of lyricism and feeling. Argerich gave her debut concert in 1949 at the age of eight. The family moved to Europe in 1955, where Argerich studied with Friedrich Gulda in Austria, whom Argerich describes as one of her major influences. She later studied with Stefan Askenase and Maria Curcio. Argerich also seized opportunities for brief periods of coaching with Madeleine Lipatti (widow of Dinu Lipatti), Abbey Simon, and Nikita Magaloff. In 1957, at sixteen, she won both the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition within three weeks of each other. Following this success, Argerich had a personal and artistic crisis; she did not play the piano for three years and considered giving it up to train as a secretary or doctor. She credited Anny Askenase (the wife of Stefan Askenase) with encouraging her to return to the piano.

Over a thirteen-year period (2009-2022), G bor Tak cs-Nagy and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra embarked on a spiritual journey through the nine symphonies of Beethoven. The resultant cycle of recordings captures the ensemble's liberated and transformative account of these masterworks, approaching each opus with a sense of spontaneity, insight, and joy.

For Antal Doráti, one of the mid-twentieth century's most gifted conductors, Beethoven was a central repertoire choice. This symphony cycle was recorded in 1975-76 at the beginning of his tenure as principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Long unavailable, these scintillating recordings, combining weight and depth with dance-like clarity, are newly presented as a CD edition.