Beethoven / Watson / Ogata - Beethoven: Sonatas for Fortepiano & Violin 3 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 2; Symphony No. 1 - Mendelssohn's first symphonic work scored for full orchestra, the Symphony Op.11 in C minor, paved the way for even greater examples of the genre he was soon to produce. The concert overture Die schöne Melusine and the sparkling Piano Concerto No.2 rely on the type of orchestration and harmonic language that are best served when played on period instruments, as heard here. Devoid of the atmosphere of Romantic doom and gloom, nearly every page of both scores is marked by an exuberant cheerfulness, youthful drive and irrepressible energy in these splendid performances from fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout and the Freiburger Barockorchester led by Pablo Heras-Casado.

Ian Watson and Susanna Ogata's acclaimed series on Coro Connections continues with the fourth album in their exploration of Beethoven's Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin. The Opus 12 Sonatas that are explored on this final volume are among the most Mozartian of the sonatas. They are, however, filled with Beethoven's inimitable voice, from the assertive Sonata No. 1, in the violin's most brilliant and sonorous key of D major, to the pianistically brilliant No. 3 in E flat with it's cascades of triplets and sextuplets. Unmistakably Beethoven! Susanna Ogata has been praised for her Inchtotally convincing, spontaneous and free-flowing playingInch (The Berkshire Review) and is a tenured member of the Handel and Haydn Society where she was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the orchestra in 2014. Ian Watson has been described by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as Incha conductor of formidable ability,Inch and by The Times in London as a keyboard performer with Inchvirtuosic panache and brilliantly articulated playingInch and Incha world-class soloist.Inch He was appointed Associate Conductor of Boston's Handel and Haydn Society in 2016.

CORO is proud to introduce “CORO Connections,” a new series that will feature all of their guest artists! All featured artists have links to Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, and the first disc features two of Harry’s colleagues from the Handel & Haydn Society Susanna Ogata (violin) and Ian Watson (fortepiano). Using period instruments for which the music was originally written, Watson and Ogata strive to reveal not only the clarity of Beethoven’s extraordinary musical structure, but also an amazing palette of colors. In doing so, the duo aims to recreate the white-hot intensity of the moment these striking sonatas were first performed.