Gottlieb Garvo

The Orchester Wiener Akademie and its conductor Martin Haselböck continue the Resound Beethoven series, performed on period instruments and scrupulously respecting the orchestral layout of 200 years ago. Volume 7 is devoted to the Fourth Symphony, and the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major Op. 58, first performed in 1807. The recording took place in the Palais Lobkowitz in Vienna, in the venue of their premiere in March 1807. The concerto is performed by the Austrian pianist Gottlieb Wallisch, who was also performing on the previous volume.

The Graun brothers, both of whom held leading positions in the Berlin royal ensemble, were regarded as ‘fiery instrumental composers’ and numbered among the most famous musicians of their time. The elegant gestures, the sensitive tone, and the colloquial interaction of the musicians are remarkable, and the decision to employ a fortepiano instead of a harpsichord as the continuo instrument underscores the progressive element in these compositions.

Among his most imaginative works, Schubert's fragmentary piano sonatas offer insights into his struggles with form and his experiments with tonality, preoccupations that led to great innovations in his final masterpieces. Composed between 1817 and 1823, the 12 unfinished sonatas reveal the most striking ideas and expressions, though many proved too difficult to develop satisfactorily; or, in other cases, the sonatas are incomplete because pages or whole movements are missing. The Sonata No. 5 in A flat major, D. 557, is the most complete and is included here because its unusual ending in E flat suggests an unwritten fourth movement.

In recent years the rich musical life at the court of the Crown Prince and later King Frederick (the Great) of Prussia has been extensively explored. This has resulted in discs devoted to the music of the Benda and Graun brothers and composers like Quantz and Schaffrath. There is still much to discover, for instance the music of Christoph Nichelmann, Christian Friedrich Schale and Georg Czarth. Johann Gottlieb Janitsch also figures among the masters of what has been called the Berlin School.