New Music by Ludwig van Beethoven.... In 2010???

I am a Cedille Records subscriber.  This means I get each new release in the mail, at a nice discount off the usual retail price, in exchange for my commitment to take them all, which is not burdensome because Cedille is an independent label that releases a relatively small number of discs over the course of the year and, because they generally don't focus on the standard repertory, almost every disc I receive from them adds something new to my collection.  In addition, they present the cream of the performing musicians in Chicago.  We on the east coast tend to overlook the rich musical life elsewhere in the country, but on the evidence of Cedille's releases over the years, Chicago is an important center of performing excellence in classical music, with depth going well beyond the CSO and the Lyric Opera.

The newest Cedille release is truly something special, since it includes world premiere recordings of  works by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).  All three pieces on the program are performed with supreme mastery by a group calling itself The Beethoven Project Trio: pianist George Lepauw, violinist Sang Mee Lee, and cellist Wendy Warner.

The booklet contains fascinating notes by pianist Lepauw explaining how the Beethoven Project Trio was formed.  Lepauw became aware that there were works for violin, piano and cello by Beethoven that were generally unknown and not performed, and he was excited to organize a trio in his new home town of Chicago (Lepauw is French, and moved to Chicago for advance study) to provide a world premiere for a Beethoven piece that has not, as far as any of the experts he consulted could find, been previously performed.  By the time he was through putting together the concert, which took place on March 1, 2009, he had put together a program of three unknown works, and selected the great Archduke Trio to round out the evening. 

So, what we have here, as explained in great depth in the notes, are pieces that Beethoven had conceived for other instrumental combinations but eventually decided to rearrange for piano trio.  The trio arrangements went beyond mere transcription into the realm of recreation, altering their musical personality even if the notes were similar, since substituting a piano for other instruments will definitely change the character of a piece. 

First on the disc is a Trio movement in Eb, which is an arrangement by Beethoven of a movement from his String Trio, Op. 3, a very early work from 1794.  The reconception as a piano trio post-dates 1800, and the performance by the Beethoven Project Trio was probably its world premiere, since there is no indication it was performed in Beethoven's lifetime and they could find no subsequent mention of it being performed.  Next is a two-movement Trio in D, an original piano trio work from 1799 that was wrongly attributed to Mozart and whose provenance was perhaps misjudged because the manuscript is not in Beethoven's handwriting, but rather in the handwriting of his brother, Kaspar Karl, who served for a time as Ludwig's copyist and business manager.  Finally, there is the Op. 63 Trio in Eb, published in 1806 by Artaria, an arrangement most likely by Beethoven from his own string quintet, Op. 4.  Interesting that in his middle period, when he was working on Symphonies 4 & 5, the 4th Piano Concerto, and other works now ensconced in the standard repertory, Beethoven took the time to make a piano trio arrangement of another of his youthful chamber music efforts.  I imagine this is the kind of thing he did "for the money," since the publisher wanted something from him in the genre.

In any event, all of this is Beethoven - the early Beethoven, full of energy and the excitement of new creation - and the musicians of the Beethoven Project Trio play it with that same sense of excitement.  After a wildly successful concert in Chicago, they took the project to one of the best chamber music recording venues in New York - the American Academy of Arts and Letters -- for several days of a studio recording supervised by one of the legendary producers of classical recordings, Max Wilcox.  The results are superb.  I can't recommend this disc highly enough for anybody interested in Beethoven or who loves chamber music and is eager to explore new repertory.  Of course, it is all early Beethoven with the heavy influences of Mozart and Haydn, but Beethoven was from the beginning an original musical thinker, and there is plenty of foreshadowing here of the giant he was to become.

There are plans afoot for the Beethoven Project Trio to continue their explorations with more of Beethoven's "unknown" works for piano trio, of which there are quite a few, to be included in a recording of the complete works for piano trio, presumably all for Cedille.  Be on the lookout....  They also have a website which gives plenty of detail about the project and forthcoming performances.

Meanwhile, I was excited to learn that they are bringing their Chicago program to New York, performing it at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center on May 18, but unfortunately I will be in Europe then, so I will have to miss them.  But I urge anybody interested not to delay, as the concert is just a few days away.  The recording, which was officially released earlier this month, suggests that hearing this group live will be a real treat.

Comments

[Easy piano sheet music]

Thank you for the info, I'll try to go, it sounds pretty nice :)
Enjoy,
Lewis

http://www.easypianosheet.com