LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN The Symphonies
GCDSA 921116. 5 SACDs
—
Orchestra of the Eighteenth CenturyFrans Brüggen, conductor
with (on Symphony no. 9):
Rebecca Nash, soprano Wilke te Brummelstroete, mezzo-soprano Marcel Beekman, tenor Michael Tews, bass Laurens Collegium & Laurens Cantorij, Rotterdam
Production details
Recorded live in Rotterdam (de Doelen), Netherlands, in October 2011 Engineered and produced by Studio van Schuppen Booklet essay by Roland de Beer Photographs by Annelies van der VegtEnglish - Français - Deutsch - Nederlands
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Commercial release sheet (PDF)
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DISC 1 [79:31]
Symphony no. 1 in C major (Opus 21, 1800)
01 Adagio molto – Allegro con brio 02 Andante 03 Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace 04 Finale: Allegro molto e vivace
Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, ‘Eroica’ (Opus 55, 1804)
05 Allegro con brio 06 Marcia funebre: Adagio assai 07 Scherzo: Allegro vivace08 Finale: Allegro molto
DISC 2 [68:50]
Symphony no. 2 in D major (Opus 36, 1802)
01 Adagio molto – Allegro con brio 02 Larghetto quasi andante 03 Scherzo: Allegro04 Allegro molto
Symphony no. 4 in B flat major (Opus 60, 1806)
05 Adagio – Allegro vivace 06 Adagio 07 Allegro vivace08 Allegro ma non troppo
DISC 3 [75:49]
Symphony no. 6 in F major (Opus 68, 1806-1808)
01 Allegro ma non troppo: ‘Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande’ 02 Andante molto mosso: ‘Szene am Bach 03 Allegro: ‘Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute 04 Allegro: ‘Gewitter, Sturm05 Allegretto: ‘Hirtensang, frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm’
Symphony no. 5 in C minor (Opus 67, 1808)
06 Allegro con brio 07 Andante con moto 08 Allegro 09 Allegro
DISC 4 [68:44]
Symphony no. 8 in F major (Opus 93, 1812)
01 Allegro vivace e con brio 02 Allegretto scherzando 03 Tempo di menuetto e trio04 Allegro vivace
Symphony no. 7 in A major (Opus 92, 1812)
05 Poco sostenuto – Vivace 06 Allegretto 07 Presto – Assai meno presto08 Allegro con brio
DISC 5 [65:06]
Symphony no. 9 in D minor (Opus 125, 1824)
01 Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso 02 Molto vivace 03 Adagio molto e cantabile 04 Presto 05 ‘O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!’ 06 Allegro assai: ‘Ode an die Freude 07 Alla marcia: Allegro vivace assai 08 Andante maestoso – Adagio non troppo ma divoto 09 Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato 10 Allegro ma non tanto
About this CD
It was some years after founding the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century in 1981 that Frans Brüggen first turned his attention to the music of Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies and endeavoured to perceive that special orchestral landscape, in order to transform it into musical sound, with the use of period instruments rediscovering historical tonal colours. Now, his quest undimmed, Brüggen has submerged himself once more into the glories of Beethoven’s orchestral music for a new cycle being issued in a sumptuous new hybrid SACD box set by Glossa. Likewise undimmed is the rapport he shares with his orchestra for one of classical music’s greatest challenges of realizing the intimate and the familiar in these symphonies, a challenge achieved here on record by way of concert performances (Brüggen has long distanced himself from studio recordings).
As well as being a witness to Brüggen’s communing with the spirit of Beethoven, this Glossa edition comes with a series of powerful and elegant photographs of conductor and orchestra by Annelies van der Vegt (also one of the orchestra’s first violinists), taken during the tour which led up to the “Beethoven Experience” in the Rotterdam concert hall of de Doelen last year, where the symphonies were recorded. Joining orchestra and conductor, on the fifth and final disc, for the Ninth Symphony are soloists Rebecca Nash, Wilke te Brummelstroete, Marcel Beekman, Michael Tews and the choral forces of the Laurens Collegium and Cantorij from Rotterdam.