Well it is the Super Deluxe Vinyl Art Edition! It is elsewhere, on all good retailers at around £200, with the Deluxe Gregor Hildebrandt Art Limited Edition.
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Fidelio
Must it be.....it must be -
For that price, I hope it includes the original Joseph Karl Stieler portrait!
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As much as vinyl can be the superior format for popular music created when that was the dominant format, I don't think it works as well for classical music, due to the limits of what it can capture. So unless it's for the sake of collecting or nostalgia, buying any classical music on vinyl doesn't make a lot of sense to me.Comment
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Originally posted by Fidelio View Post
Another DG release for the 250th celebrationsFidelio
Must it be.....it must beComment
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Fidelio
Must it be.....it must beComment
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I didn't realize that more WoO numbers, 206-228, were added in 2014!Comment
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You can hear parts of the "rarities" on the website Fidelio posted above. (Thanks, by the way!)
(Edit: I've since discovered you can hear the whole lot on YouTube - see next post.)
Many of these pieces were released back in 2007 in the infamous Amado Blue Box set - which had many faults but did contain some unknown piano works - mostly uncompleted ones.
A lot of them sound familiar to me as I downloaded a ton of stuff off the Unheard Beethoven website about fifteen years ago. (They were on MIDI but good enough to give one an idea of the sketches, etc.)
Some have both Hess and WoO numbers - just to make things easy.
The new rarities is a nice little sampler but it's only available as a download on Amazon - at the moment anyway.
.Last edited by Michael; 09-01-2019, 12:19 AM.Comment
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The Rarities are already up on YouTube (all 79 of them):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTEx...AFRRU3OVJVBpAU
I have to say that there are some interesting pieces here and some of them are quite substantial: his 1822 version of "Fur Elise" for example - although I'm not sure how much of it was completed by somebody else.
Beethoven's own arrangement of the Battle Symphony for piano is included - which is quite rare (though some would say not rare enough.)
Also included is his attempt at a piano arrangement of his 7th symphony (unfortunately he didn't get past the introduction to the first movement.)
I don't see his piano arrangements of his two ballets, "Creatures of Prometheus" and the early "Ritterballet" among the rarities so I doubt if they will wind up in the main body of works.
Still, I've come across a good few little pieces I've never heard before. There are no undiscovered masterpieces but still it's Beethoven.
The exercise fugues are for the completist, I'm afraid. (Damn it - that's me!)
.Last edited by Michael; 09-01-2019, 12:22 AM.Comment
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Excellent, I'll be checking these out!Originally posted by Michael View Post
I have these on CD, so they can't be that rare. Still, it never hurts to have another take on them in the catalog.I have to say that there are some interesting pieces here and some of them are quite substantial: his 1822 version of "Fur Elise" for example - although I'm not sure how much of it was completed by somebody else.
Beethoven's own arrangement of the Battle Symphony for piano is included - which is quite rare (though some would say not rare enough.)
Also included is his attempt at a piano arrangement of his 7th symphony (unfortunately he didn't get past the introduction to the first movement.)
I have those on CD too. Steven Beck recorded a lot of these rare piano arrangements on the Monument label. Those discs are very worth tracking down for the Beethoven enthusiast.I don't see his piano arrangements of his two ballets, "Creatures of Prometheus" and the early "Ritterballet" among the rarities so I doubt if they will wind up in the main body of works.
And meThe exercise fugues are for the completist, I'm afraid. (Damn it - that's me!) But I think it's also very interesting to have this peak into Beethoven's compositional education. Whenever I listen to these I start getting the urge to work out some fugues of my own.
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I managed to record the piano version of the Battle Symphony back in 2005 when BBC Radio 3 played nothing but Beethoven for a week! The pianist had some gadget attached to the piano that played all the percussion while he (or somebody else) was shouting in German describing the movement of the troops!
I have all the other piano arrangements on CD (Prometheus and the Ritterballet and some dances), but, as you say, it doesn't hurt to have alternative recordings.
But in this new "Rarities" compilation there is a good deal of music I've never heard before - albeit fragments and short pieces.
Some of them may have been partially completed by Willy Hess or whoever - but at least there are no long "reconstructions" based on a few odd notes.
.Last edited by Michael; 09-01-2019, 07:44 PM.Comment
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Originally posted by Michael View PostI managed to record the piano version of the Battle Symphony back in 2005 when BBC Radio 3 played nothing but Beethoven for a week! The pianist had some gadget attached to the piano that played all the percussion while he (or somebody else) was shouting in German describing the movement of the troops!
I love Wellington's Victory. It's one of my favorite Beethoven compositions especially seeing it performed live by the Los Angeles Philharmonic when I was an usher at the Hollywood Bowl back in the mid 1970s. Hearing and seeing this work performed, along with a choreographed battle scene with people dressed in the military uniforms of England and France in 1815, is a memory I'll never forget and will always treasure. I must admit I didn't know that there was a piano version of this composition. I must check that out."God knows why it is that my pianoforte music always makes the worst impression on me, especially when it is played badly." -Beethoven 1804.Comment
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I used to play a recording of this to show off my stereo back in the 70s. Everybody was impressed with it - even some of my friends who had no interest in Beethoven or classical music.Originally posted by Hollywood View Post
(Incidentally, Hollywood, thanks to information supplied by you and Fidelio, I was able to acquire a nice copy of the large 1970 book which came with the huge vinyl anniversary release of that year and 1977!)Comment
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Yes, very nice, and just the kind of thing I was hoping for for the 250th anniversary. This is more interesting to me than another cycle of the symphonies or other well-known works. I just wish these rarities were sold on CD separate from the complete box - it would be a nice addition to my collection without creating a lot of redundancy and taking up a lot more space!Originally posted by Michael View PostComment
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From looking at Amazon, it appears that the rarities are only available as a download which doesn't interest me (and you I would say.)Originally posted by Chris View Post
The new complete set is up on Amazon for about 275 dollars! It's very tempting but there is a lot of duplication with the 1997 set - even if the new set has about 30 more CDs. I think there are alternative recordings of the more important works.Comment
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Perhaps downloading the rarities and making your own CD might be feasible?Originally posted by Michael View PostComment
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