Beethoven, Symphonies 1-9
Alberto Sanna, Wim Winters, Fortepiano
In Collaboration with Currende
Instrument: Fortepiano after J. Fritz 1816 - Joris Potvlieghe, 2019
Singers: Eric van Nevel, Sarah Van Mol, Renate Weytjens, Roel Vansevenant
Album design: Laurent Simon
Consultant Microphone positioning: Dirk Joosten/Joris Potvlieghe
Symphony 9 recorded in Trypoul Recording Studios
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CD Box - 10 disc - Presale - Release Box May 2024
Beethoven Symphonies
as you've Never Heard Before
Beethoven’s symphonies as you've never heard before. That’s quite a claim we better back up right away. I’ll give you two reasons why ‘our’ symphonies will be completely different from every performance you are familiar with. And why you definitely do not want to miss out on them.
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The first reason is the phenomenal transcription of the symphonies for four hands made by Beethoven‘s friend and pupil Carl Czerny. Yes, indeed, you’ll hear not an orchestra, but an incredibly beautiful fortepiano. A copy of a real Viennese grand piano from 1816, meticulously measured and recreated piece by piece especially for this project. Czerny, often scorned today but for Beethoven, his by far preferred collaborator for symphonic transcriptions. He made absolute masterpieces from his friend's symphonies. And even though these transcriptions could easily get the price of best transcriptions ever, they have never been recorded in their entirety.
The second reason is the tempo we took. Tempo determines everything. It is super important, not only for every musician today but also for Beethoven. Even three months before his death, he wrote to his publisher Schott to wait for his metronome marks. And if you think that today we have often heard Beethoven's works in his tempi, I must disappoint you.
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​The lightning-fast Beethoven has become a symbol of a whole musical society today. But that version is unsustainable. The speeds demanded by current insights go beyond any human ability. Something else must have been going on. Because whatever Beethoven prescribed for his works must make sense. It must make a lot of sense.
So we took our metronome, and began this journey determined to find the solution to this long standing problem. Four years and countless hours of research, experiment, and recordings later, we are proud to present all nine symphonies in a way you have never heard before. In the end, we didn’t need to do anything too outlandish – the sole adjustment we made was interpreting Beethoven’s metronome markings, much like physicists today read a pendulum.
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This is the Beethoven we rediscovered, this is the Beethoven we embrace and want you to fully experience in all its power as well.
In our premium package called the „Full Beethoven experience“ you gain instant access to the high-resolution audio files of all the symphonies so you don't have to wait for the CD Box to arrive at your doorstep. You can enjoy the 'new' symphonies right away, as they won't be available on streaming platforms. You will also get instant access to a 20-hour listening guide in podcast format, where we guide you through the entire set of symphonies. And the same day we’ll also send you the High Resolution scans of the Czerny score, which are commercially unavailable today!
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On top of all that you will get access to multiple video lessons where I delve into notation, tempo, understanding the score, you’ll get access to a webpage with blog posts and information about the history of the symphonies and Beethoven, a documentary on the Fritz fortepiano, an exclusive interview with Alberto and myself, and a behind-the-scenes video on the recording of the 9th symphony.
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We've thrown into that package almost 40 hours of exclusive premium content. And guess what? You get all of this for just the price of two CD boxes. But that's not all – for that price we're also tossing in a second CD box which is a fantastic gift to someone you’d like to share this project with!