Official Digital Download 2021 Beethoven

Premiered in 1800, Beethoven’s Sonata in F major, Op. 17 for piano and horn signalled the beginning of an explosion in works for piano and horn duo in the early part of the nineteenth century. Many composers were to follow in the footsteps of the great master in exploiting the versatility and variety of the natural horn in the years that followed. Beyond Beethoven explores four works by close contemporaries, chosen partly due to the connections between the composers, Beethoven and his Op. 17 Sonata, and partly to dispel enduring modern myths about the instrument’s limited options.

The Kreisler Trio Wien has again invited renowned guest musicians for it's latest album, including the principal hornist of the Vienna Philharmonic, Wolfgang Vladar. The main work of this recording is Beethoven's Septet, Op. 20, combined with the charming Serenade for String Trio by Ernst von Dohnanyi as the door-opener.

Liya Petrova burst onto the international scene in 2016 when she took First Prize at the Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark, chaired by Nikolaj Szeps- Znaider.

Mattias Spee (1997) studied with David Kuyken and Ralph van Raat, among others. He won several prizes, at the Prinses Christina Concours, the Steinway Piano Competition and the VriendenCultuurPrijs. Spee has a distinct preference for contemporary and lesser known repertoire. “I would like to bring hidden treasures from music history into the limelight,” says the pianist.

On her most recent album, the pianist Claire Huangci made her first discographic foray into the chamber-music world of Ernest Chausson and Maurice Ravel. Her latest album creates a musical link almost back to the beginning of her professional career, to her highly acclaimed Scarlatti album, and proves yet again that she has a very close relationship with Baroque repertoire: with Johann Sebastian Bach’s varied and sparklingly virtuoso Toccatas she has taken ownership of a rarely heard collection of works, in which she presents the entire emotional spectrum of the young adult Bach.

The year 1802 proved to be a year of true challenge for Beethoven, as he finally realized that his decline into deafness was irreversible. However, in this year Beethoven composed some of his most radiant and life-affirming works in that period. Possibly as part of the determination to push the boundaries of his art in pursuit of solace and fulfillment, Beethoven demonstrates a remarkable stylistic shift between the Op. 12 and the Op. 30 Sonatas (written in 1801–2, published in 1803).

This, the third in the series of Beethoven’s late quartets from the Ehnes Quartet deviates from the official ‘late’ works to include the last two of Beethoven’s ‘middle period’ quartets: The sunny and amiable E flat, known as the ‘Harp’, and the terse and irascible F Minor, known not surprisingly, as ‘Serioso’.

Saleem Ashkar made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since gone on to establish an international career. Recent and future concerto highlights include the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the St Louis, Vancouver and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras.

Even before Simon Rattle gave his debut concert as head of the Berliner Philharmoniker, he made headlines with another world-class orchestra: It was the cycle of nine Beethoven symphonies that he conducted with the Vienna Philharmonic in Tokyo, Berlin and - of course - Vienna. Back in May 2002, Rattle set standards with the most traditional orchestral repertoire of all. The live recording was released in March 2003. This cycle, which is now being re-released in the budget segment, is still regarded as the reference recording of the new millennium.

The first fortepiano recording of a collection belatedly gaining recognition beyond pianophile circles as a major keyboard cycle of late Romanticism.