Beethoven in Period Performances

Started by Que, April 07, 2007, 07:34:50 AM

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Brian

There's a new Conrad Graf fortepiano Beethoven Opp 109-111 on the block!



Order at musicaomnia.org

Looks like Penelope Crawford is set to join the club currently staffed by Paul Komen, Ronald Brautigam, and Alexei Lubimov, among others.

DavidW

I guess Brian voted for Beethoven as a romantic! ;D  What does that fortepiano sound like?

milk

Quote from: Brian on May 18, 2011, 09:19:01 AM
There's a new Conrad Graf fortepiano Beethoven Opp 109-111 on the block!



Order at musicaomnia.org

Looks like Penelope Crawford is set to join the club currently staffed by Paul Komen, Ronald Brautigam, and Alexei Lubimov, among others.

I snagged this and the Lubimov at the same time. The Lubimov recording really grabs me.

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Brian on May 18, 2011, 09:19:01 AM
There's a new Conrad Graf fortepiano Beethoven Opp 109-111 on the block!



Order at musicaomnia.org

Looks like Penelope Crawford is set to join the club currently staffed by Paul Komen, Ronald Brautigam, and Alexei Lubimov, among others.

Have you personally heard any of that yet, Brian? It'll be easy on you, since a Graf tends to sound more like a modern piano than most others do. Good place to start, IMO...   0:)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

DavidW

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on May 19, 2011, 07:18:09 AM
since a Graf tends to sound more like a modern piano than most others do. Good place to start, IMO...   0:)

8)

Thanks!  That's what I wanted to know. :)

Brian

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on May 19, 2011, 07:18:09 AM
Have you personally heard any of that yet, Brian? It'll be easy on you, since a Graf tends to sound more like a modern piano than most others do. Good place to start, IMO...   0:)

8)

Well, I already have the Komen, Brautigam, and Lubimov performances! :)

Gurn Blanston

#546
Quote from: Brian on May 19, 2011, 07:23:23 AM
Well, I already have the Komen, Brautigam, and Lubimov performances! :)

That'll work. I don't have Lubimov. Is he also on a Graf?  I have him in some earlier Beethoven and he is playing an Erard that is... interesting. :D

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Brian

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on May 19, 2011, 07:43:56 AM
That'll work. I don't have Lubimov. Is he also on a Graf?  I have him in some earlier Beethoven and he is playing an Erard that is... interesting. :D

8)

Lubimov uses an 1828 Graf, but an Aloiss Graf. Never heard of that fellow.

FideLeo

Signs show that Staier may be releasing his recording of the Diabelli soon.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/v/iOw4-CtMr-E
HIP for all and all for HIP! Harpsichord for Bach, fortepiano for Beethoven and pianoforte for Brahms!

milk

Quote from: FideLeo on July 05, 2011, 06:39:47 AM
Signs show that Staier may be releasing his recording of the Diabelli soon.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/v/iOw4-CtMr-E

Do the Diabelli Variations come anywhere close to the Goldberg Variations in terms of musical genius in anyone's opinion?

Brian

Quote from: Brian on May 18, 2011, 09:19:01 AM
There's a new Conrad Graf fortepiano Beethoven Opp 109-111 on the block!



Order at musicaomnia.org

Looks like Penelope Crawford is set to join the club currently staffed by Paul Komen, Ronald Brautigam, and Alexei Lubimov, among others.

First listen through to the CD and I heard nothing I disliked. Will have to hear it again a few more times, of course, but this sounded perfectly enjoyable and very well-played. :) Not as occasionally idiosyncratic as Lubimov or as fast as Brautigam.

premont

#551
Quote from: ~ Que ~ on August 23, 2011, 12:53:27 PM
I think we should promote Beethoven performed on the harpsichord and see what they have to say about that. ;D

Q

Not a bad idea. As you probably know, the early piano sonatas of Beethoven were originally advertised as being composed for fortepiano or harpsichord.
:D :D :D
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Bulldog

Quote from: ~ Que ~ on August 23, 2011, 12:53:27 PM
I think we should promote Beethoven performed on the harpsichord and see what they have to say about that. ;D

Q

I remember saying on this board that I'd love to hear Beethoven on harpsichord, and a couple of members thought the idea was ridiculous.
Is there are harpsichordist around who might take up the challenge?

Que

#553
Quote from: (: premont :) on August 23, 2011, 01:24:45 PM
Not a bad idea. As you probably know, the early piano sonatas of Beethoven were originally advertised as being composed for fortepiano or harpsichord.
:D :D :D

Quote from: Bulldog on August 24, 2011, 02:13:55 PM
I remember saying on this board that I'd love to hear Beethoven on harpsichord, and a couple of members thought the idea was ridiculous.
Is there are harpsichordist around who might take up the challenge?

Considering premont's comments, that seems not a ridiculous idea at all.  8)

Though I have a hunch that the mentioning of the harpsichord was not on account of Beethoven but of his publisher for commercial reasons? Many musical households probably still owned a harpsicord and not a fortepiano in those days.

Q

Mandryka

Quote from: Bulldog on August 24, 2011, 02:13:55 PM
I remember saying on this board that I'd love to hear Beethoven on harpsichord, and a couple of members thought the idea was ridiculous.
Is there are harpsichordist around who might take up the challenge?

Harpsichord Prelude  WoO 55

http://www.youtube.com/v/WfWpX8DK8G4
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

mjwal

Quote from: Brian on July 09, 2011, 08:21:21 AM
First listen through to the CD and I heard nothing I disliked. Will have to hear it again a few more times, of course, but this sounded perfectly enjoyable and very well-played. :) Not as occasionally idiosyncratic as Lubimov or as fast as Brautigam.
I have just heard this - I liked it all, but the big revelation to me was Op.111, where there were some unearthly sounds coming from the beautifully preserved  Graf in some passages (especially in the arietta) that were a revelation for me - I felt that Beethoven's textures had never before sounded so suggestive and modern, so sheerly delightful.
The Violin's Obstinacy

It needs to return to this one note,
not a tune and not a key
but the sound of self it must depart from,
a journey lengthily to go
in a vein it knows will cripple it.
...
Peter Porter

SonicMan46

Quote from: Bulldog on August 24, 2011, 02:13:55 PM
I remember saying on this board that I'd love to hear Beethoven on harpsichord, and a couple of members thought the idea was ridiculous.
Is there are harpsichordist around who might take up the challenge?

Don - just put the disc below (on fortepiano though) on my 'wish list' - superlative reviews in both the Sept/Oct issues of Fanfare & American Record Guide (OMG - agreement!) - Penelope Crawford plays a genuine historical fortepiano, built by Conrad Graf of Vienna in 1835; well, Ludwig had been gone nearly a decade but close enough.   I've been purchasing many of her recent recordings on Watchorn's label and all have been excellent.  Looking forward to the comments on this new release.  Dave :)


Leo K.


Beethoven - Les Sonates Pour Le Pianoforte (Paul Badura-Skoda)

Has anyone here heard this set too?

This is an amazing set. I think it came out in 1990. A friend lent it to me, as it's very hard to find, and I am astonished at the beauty of the set. I'm only a little ways through it, but from what I've heard, the various fortepianos are recorded with such detail and clarity!

Here is a list of the instruments used on this set:

Pianoforte Johann Schantz, ca.1790
Pianoforte John Broadwood, Londras, ca.1796
Hammerflugal Anton Walter, Vienna ca.1790
Hammerflugal Caspar Schmidt, Prague, ca.1810
Hammerflugal George Hasska, Vienna ca.1815
Pianoforte John Broadwood, Londras, ca.1815
Hammerflugal Conrad Graf, Vienna ca.1824

:o Wow, an amazing set indeed!

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: Leo K on September 18, 2011, 06:36:56 AM

Beethoven - Les Sonates Pour Le Pianoforte (Paul Badura-Skoda)

Has anyone here heard this set too?

This is an amazing set. I think it came out in 1990. A friend lent it to me, as it's very hard to find, and I am astonished at the beauty of the set. I'm only a little ways through it, but from what I've heard, the various fortepianos are recorded with such detail and clarity!

Here is a list of the instruments used on this set:

Pianoforte Johann Schantz, ca.1790
Pianoforte John Broadwood, Londras, ca.1796
Hammerflugal Anton Walter, Vienna ca.1790
Hammerflugal Caspar Schmidt, Prague, ca.1810
Hammerflugal George Hasska, Vienna ca.1815
Pianoforte John Broadwood, Londras, ca.1815
Hammerflugal Conrad Graf, Vienna ca.1824

:o Wow, an amazing set indeed!

Leo,
Oh sure, and it only took me 10 years to get it all! Worth it though, it is far and away my favorite if one could only have a complete cycle and not one put together from parts. Badura-Skoda is The Man when it comes to Viennese High Classical piano works. The only downside that i can see is that it is on Astrée. I hate them, they are my favorite label.   >:(   :)  (for explanation, see first sentence)

8)
Visit my Haydn blog: HaydnSeek

Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on September 18, 2011, 07:19:48 AM
Leo,
Oh sure, and it only took me 10 years to get it all! Worth it though, it is far and away my favorite if one could only have a complete cycle and not one put together from parts. Badura-Skoda is The Man when it comes to Viennese High Classical piano works. The only downside that i can see is that it is on Astrée. I hate them, they are my favorite label.   >:(   :)  (for explanation, see first sentence)

8)

Off-topic: If I were a journalist and a musical reviewer the highest goal in my professional life would be at this moment to organize some meetings/dialogues among some wonderful old men who in the next years will not be more with us (I mean if we are still here in the next years  ;D): Gustav Leonhardt (1928), Paul Badura-Skoda (1927), Jörg Demus (1928), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929), immediately come to my mind in the field of HIP performance... But this is a totally stupid world and probably this is just a naive idea from a naive music lover.