Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

[Bryn]

Beethoven Unleashed: How to Play Beethoven

Very worthwhile programme yesterday, I thought. Good insights into Beethoven's developing writing for the double bass. Very much looking forward to the others in this week's set.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Today’s programme on the timpani is absolutely fascinating . Really good interview with timpanist Adrian Bending . I’d always thought playing the timps came into the category of much trickier than it looks and he confirms that. So interesting to get an expert’s perspective . Who would have thought that the Eroica funeral March is the most enjoyable piece to play ?

[Bryn]

I wondered why Brautigam did not include the Choral Fantasy in his survey with Willens. Today's programme offered something of an explanation. That said, I think Paul Komen and Bruno Weil pulled it off pretty well:



as did Tan and Norrington, come to that.

[Nick Armstrong]

Great to hear our very own Tony in the Op 17 horn sonata on today’s programme... and to hear the comments about him by his former pupil Sarah Willis of the Berlin Phil

[MickyD]

I wondered why Brautigam did not include the Choral Fantasy in his survey with Willens. Today's programme offered something of an explanation. That said, I think Paul Komen and Bruno Weil pulled it off pretty well:



as did Tan and Norrington, come to that.

Thanks for this, Bryn...I wasn't aware of the existence of this disc.

[Sir Velo]

Great to hear our very own Tony in the Op 17 horn sonata on today’s programme... and to hear the comments about him by his former pupil Sarah Willis of the Berlin Phil

Indeed, and wouldn't it be interesting if he came on here to give us his insights into the prowess of his protegee.

That exuberant performance is available on this quite outstanding collection of miscellany.

[Bryn]

Indeed, and wouldn't it be interesting if he came on here to give us his insights into the prowess of his protegee.

That exuberant performance is available on this quite outstanding collection of miscellany.

Tony's recording is also available on this:



Amazon UK, ASIN : B00000JLFD

[Sir Velo]

I wondered why Brautigam did not include the Choral Fantasy in his survey with Willens. Today's programme offered something of an explanation. That said, I think Paul Komen and Bruno Weil pulled it off pretty well:



as did Tan and Norrington, come to that.

Or, indeed, as Heras-Casado, the Freiburgers and Bezuidenhout manage on this recent recording.

[kernelbogey]

Beethoven Unleashed: How to Play Beethoven
Week commencing 24 August 2020 Week 16 of 26

Throughout this week, Donald Macleod meets with different professional musicians to get a performer's eye view of Beethoven’s music and the challenges it presents.
During Beethoven’s life, great technical advances were being made to musical instruments such as the keyboard and the horn. It was also a period when virtuoso musicians of all kinds began to tour Europe and Beethoven was able to meet some of the greatest exponents of different instruments and learn from them. He was inspired to push the limits of his performers as never before, and his works continue to fascinate and challenge musicians today.
Available to 24 September
[Post hoc post]

[kernelbogey]

Rock Bottom
Beethoven Unleashed: Phoenix Rising
Week commencing 7 September 2020 Week 17 of 26 Available until 7 October

This week, Donald Macleod explores Ludwig van Beethoven’s life through the years of 1813-1815 – a time of great change throughout Europe as Napoleon was overthrown. For Beethoven, it was undoubtedly the most successful period of his entire career, as he began, at last, to receive public recognition for his music. However, these years also saw him slump to an artistic nadir as he succumbed to the call for patriotic crowd-pleasers in the wake of this massive political change.

[kernelbogey]

Beethoven Unleashed: Spirit of the Age
Week commencing 21 September Week 18 of 26 Available until 20 October
Five guests join Donald Macleod to discuss elements that defined the spirit of Beethoven's age - the economy, the wider world of the arts, engineering, medicine and belief.

[kernelbogey]

Family Ties
Beethoven Unleashed: Withdrawal
Week commencing 5 October Week 19 of 26 Available until 4 November

Beethoven had never shown much interest in fatherhood but, following the death of his younger brother, he determined to take on that role for his nephew Karl, despite the objections of Karl’s mother who was still very much alive.

This week, Donald Macleod follows Ludwig van Beethoven through the years of 1816-1821, a period when the composer was moving towards yet another extraordinary and revolutionary flowering of his creativity. However, something was holding him back. Beethoven had resolved to become the legal guardian of his nephew, Karl, and to remove him from the care of his mother, Johanna. The resulting court battles would rumble on for five years, damaging everyone involved, consuming them all, and distracting Beethoven from his music.

Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

[kernelbogey]

The Newcomer
Beethoven Unleashed: Piano Sonatas
Week commencing 19 October Week 20 of 26 Available until 18 November

Pianist Angela Hewitt shares her knowledge of Beethoven’s opus 2 trilogy of piano sonatas with Donald Macleod.

As part of Composer of the Week's year-long focus on Beethoven, this week the world-renowned pianist Angela Hewitt chooses five contrasting aspects of the piano sonatas to discuss with Donald Macleod. In 2020, Hewitt reaches the end of her survey of Beethoven’s piano works with the last recording in her acclaimed series of his 32 piano sonatas. Begun in 2005, her Beethoven odyssey has been taken at a deliberately measured pace, to give ample space and time to reflect on each sonata, each recording being a testament to her deep understanding of Beethoven. Well known for her award-winning interpretation of Bach’s music, she brings that special insight to Beethoven’s profound admiration for the composer, after which she explores the humour Beethoven injects into his music, the composer’s ability to write cantabile or singing style and how Beethoven responded to the advancement of the piano.

Angela Hewitt and Donald Macleod begin today with a look at the piano sonatas a young Beethoven wrote, freshly arrived in Vienna, starting with his opus 2 trilogy.

[kernelbogey]

Angela Hewitt should be worth listening to!

[kernelbogey]

'The moral law within me...'
Beethoven Unleashed: Titan
Week commencing 2 November Week 21 of 26 Avaiable until 1 December

Beethoven has found a quote by Kant, which seems to fit with the poetic, spiritual music he is writing in this, his final creative period – “There are two things which raise man above himself and lead to eternal, ever-increasing admiration: the moral law within me and the starry sky above me.” However, below Kant’s starry skies, Beethoven’s life is in some disarray.

This week, Donald Macleod explores Ludwig van Beethoven’s life and work between 1822 and 1824 – a period during which the composer completed his greatest late masterpieces. It was also a time in which Beethoven became acutely aware of his own mortality, struggling with both his dwindling finances and his deteriorating health, and sought help from, among others, his brother Johann and a new secretary - Anton Schindler.