Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Gerald Anthony Barry
Orchestra: Britten Sinfonia
Conductor: Thomas Adès
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Signum
Size: 4.91 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
01. I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
02. II. Andante cantabile con moto
03. III. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace – Trio
04. IV. Finale. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
05. I. Adagio molto – Allegro con bio
06. II. Larghetto
07. III. Scherzo. Allegro vivo
08. IV. Allegro molto
Gerald Anthony Barry:
09. Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’
10. I. Allegro con brio
11. II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai
12. III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio
13. IV. Finale. Allegro molto
Gerald Anthony Barry:
14. Piano Concerto
The highly anticipated recording of Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia playing Beethoven and Barry; specifically, the Beethoven Symphony Cycle and a selection of Barry’s works. This double CD features Beethoven’s first three symphonies, interspersed with Barry’s piece Beethoven and his Piano Concerto.
Beethoven intended to stake his claim to be the rightful successor to the Viennese classical tradition with the first of his symphonies, premiered in 1800. He had already begun to lose his hearing by this point and when he composed his second symphony he placed on the page his spirit of defiance and determination against his deafness. The third marks a significant turning point in his style, as well as in the framework of how a symphony was expected to be composed.
Gerald Barry grew up in rural Ireland. His music shows us how his upbringing had an effect on his compositional style – giving a piece a title such as Beethoven would suggest an attempt at emulating his legacy nearly two centuries after his death. Do not be fooled by this however; his music shows his major influence from radio, moving from the sublime and the ridiculous with carefree abandon.
Adès makes you hear things with which you thought you were familiar as if they were completely new (Tom Service, The Guardian) This is the first release marking the culmination of the Britten Sinfonia’s three-year Beethoven Symphony Cycle, with Thomas Adès as director and conductor. Adès interleaves Beethovens masterworks with the audacious and sometimes explosive music of the wonderfully idiosyncratic Irish composer, Gerald Barry, exploring these monuments of the orchestral repertoire. This release combines Beethoven’s first 3 symphonies with two works by Barry: His ‘Piano Concerto’ was composed for pianist Nicolas Hodges, and blends his characteristic musical zeal and unconventionality (featuring a percussion section of wind machines and bass drum). Gerald Barrys setting of Beethoven’s famous “”Immortal Beloved”” text is among several of his works surrounding the life of Beethoven, whom he deeply admires. Despite the desperate tone of the letter, the music is buoyant and cheerful, with references to Beethovens own Music. The composer writers: “”The letter to the so-called Immortal Beloved is the only real love letter to survive from Ludwig van Beethoven. Its one of the strangest ever written. It more or less says I love and long for you but its not possible. The letter is a confusion of longing and desperation, a cry for forgiveness, that she not abandon him, whatever his inability. (Gerald Barry)