Coming Soon,
Beethoven 2020 - forthcoming highlights
With Beethoven dominating the release-schedules in this anniversary year, we’ve rounded up some forthcoming recordings which pay tribute to the composer, from Rudolf Buchbinder’s newly-commissioned set of responses to the Diabelli Variations to Israeli soprano Chen Reiss’s album celebrating Beethoven’s muses as well as the female characters portrayed in his concert-arias and works for the stage.
For his debut on Deutsche Grammophon, the Austrian pianist has commissioned a new series of works inspired by Beethoven’s Diabellis (which are also included complete) by composers including Toshio Hosokawa, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tan Dun, Max Richter, Jörg Widmann, Rodion Shchedrin, Lera Auerbach, and Brett Dean. Released 6th March.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Symphony No. 7
Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor), Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello) West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Taken from live concerts in Buenos Aires and Berlin last year, this all-star recording of the Triple marks three anniversaries: the twentieth birthday of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the 250th birthday of Beethoven, and the fortieth anniversary of Mutter and Ma’s landmark recording of the piece with Herbert von Karajan. Barenboim and Ma have also recorded the work together before, with Itzhak Perlman and the Berliner Philharmoniker. Released 20th March.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This is the first Beethoven recording from the maverick Greek maestro and his Perm-based orchestra, who are currently touring widely with their cycle of Beethoven symphonies; BachTrack described their performance of the Fifth at last year’s BBC Proms as ‘noisily sublime…truly electrifying’, whilst The Times observed that ‘[Currentzis's] audacity and his musicians’ virtuosity was exhilarating’. Released 13th March.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The third release in the duo’s Beethoven series centres on the Spring Sonata, and also includes the early G major Rondo WoO41 and the Six German dances WoO42; previous volumes have received praise for their ‘clarity of ideas and uncluttered, conversational generosity’ (The Guardian) and ‘the instantaneous rapport and subtle, crystal-clear tonal beauty of the pair’s playing’ (Gramophone). Released 24th April.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Beethoven: 'Archduke' & 'Ghost' Piano Trios
Renaud Capuçon (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello), Frank Braley (piano)
Both Capuçon brothers have recorded the complete sonatas for their respective instruments with Braley (International Record Review described Renaud’s accounts of the violin sonatas in 2009 as ‘unfailingly civilised and thoughtful’, while Gautier’s set of the cello sonatas and variations in 2016 was praised in Gramophone for the ‘perfect unanimity of ensemble and admirable clarity of texture’ on display); now all three join forces for two of the most popular piano trios. Released 28th February.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
42 years on from his first studio recording of the late Beethoven sonatas (which marked the beginning of a cycle which he would eventually complete in 2014), the great Italian pianist returned to the Herkulessaal in Munich last September to record the last three works live in front of a select audience; speaking shortly before the performance he declared that ‘after playing these works many, many times over the last forty years, I have always discovered new riches in every detail.’ Released 28th February.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Staier takes his title from a quotation from Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament of 1802, in which he stated his intention to ‘embark on a new path’ as he struggled with encroaching deafness, and the album features works which were published that same year – the Piano Sonatas Nos. 16, 17 and 18, the Variations on an Original Theme Op. 34, and the Eroica Variations. Staier plays a Viennese fortepiano by Mathias Müller, dating from around 1810. Released 13th March.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Goerne and Lisiecki bookend their recital with two cycles, the Sechs Lieder von Gellert Op. 48 and An die ferne Geliebte, and also include a number of early rarities such as An die Geliebte WoO 140, Klage WoW 113 and Der Liebende, WoO 139 as well as the much-recorded Adelaide and Resignation; Goerne’s recital of a similar programme at Wigmore Hall in 2016 was described by The Guardian as ‘a beautiful, thoughtful and thought-provoking evening’. Released 20th March.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The Israeli soprano is spending February singing the role of Marzelline in both Fidelio and its precursor Leonore, and the jailor’s daughter’s lovelorn aria is perhaps the best-known item on this unusual and illuminating survey of Beethoven’s women, which also features music from Egmont, Leonore Prohaska and the early Singspiel Die schöne Schusterin, and the concert-arias Primo amore, No, non turbati and Ah perfido!. Released 20th March.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
