Beethoven's World - Beethoven, Wranitzky, Reicha, Vorisek: Concertos

Approfondimenti

Reinhard Goebel is continuing his exploration of the world of Beethoven until 2027, when the bicentenary of his death will be commemorated, a great way to understand the music composed at that time and to avoid overdosing on publications solely devoted to Beethoven, which will inevitably overwhelm even the most willing music lovers. In fact there is little Beethoven in this new album, just the surprising discovery of the sketches of a Violin Concerto in C major, WoO 5 composed around 1790. Surprising, because these two hundred and fifty-nine bars completed by Joseph Hellmesberger contain decorative motifs that the composer would later reprise in his Violin Concerto, Op. 61 of 1806.

As usual, Goebel chose contemporaries of Beethoven for this programme composed of concertante works. Anton Wranitzky's Concerto for two violas naturally amazes with its unusual formation and its language modelled on the early Beethoven. Born in the same year as the great Ludwig, Anton Reicha was also a friend of Haydn before settling in Paris where he became the Professor of Berlioz, Liszt, Gounod and César Franck at the Conservatory. His huge catalogue has yet to be fully exploited. The Solo de Cor Alto for Horn and Orchestra presented here dates back to his Parisian years.
Jan Václav Voříšek's Grand Rondeau Concertant for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 25 begins as a quote from an aria by Leonore-Fidelio, before giving the floor to the three soloists who dialogue in a concertante lyricism with a most beautiful effect. Dying of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-four, this young Bohemian, who was close to Beethoven, heralded Schubert's romanticism with a body of work that was full of voluble charm. © François Hudry/Qobuz