Since 2004, Andreas Haefliger has been devising a series of recital programmes named Perspectives, presenting them in concert and on recordings. Each programme focuses on one or two Beethoven sonatas, juxtaposed with works by other composers (ranging from Mozart to Berio) which in some way or other interact with Beethoven's music, and with each other. The seventh installment in the series was premiÃ¨red at the Edinburgh Festival in 2017, and was described by one reviewer as "Inspiringly commanding, thoughtful, lucid and sheerly beautiful" (The Herald, Glasgow). Haefliger's programme opens with Alban Berg's Piano Sonata, Op. 1, a highly concentrated work in which most of the music can be traced back to the two opening gestures. This is followed by Liszt's impressionistic LÃ©gende No. 1 'St. Francis of Assisi: The Sermon to the Birds', in which we seem to hear a flock of birds chirp warble and sing. At the core of the programme is Beethoven's Op.101 Sonata - a work which in Haefliger's opinion points more clearly towards Schumann than any other of the composer's sonatas. But the grand finale of this amply-filled release is nevertheless a highly colorful and expressive performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition, recorded - as is the entire album - in the exceptional acoustics of the Mozartsaal of the Vienna Konzerthaus.

Tracklist:

Piano Sonata, Op. 1
2 Légendes, S. 175: No. 1, St. François D'assise - La Prédication Aux Oiseaux
Piano Sonata No. 28 In A Major, Op. 101: I. Etwas Lebhaft Und Mit Der Innigsten Empfindung
Piano Sonata No. 28 In A Major, Op. 101: II. Lebhaft. Marschmäßig
Piano Sonata No. 28 In A Major, Op. 101: III. Langsam Und Sehnsuchtsvoll
Piano Sonata No. 28 In A Major, Op. 101: IV. Geschwind, Doch Nicht Zu Sehr, Und Mit Entschlossenheit
Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade I
Pictures At An Exhibition: I. Gnomus
Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade II
Pictures At An Exhibition: II. Old Castle
Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade III
Pictures At An Exhibition: III. Tuileries
Pictures At An Exhibition: IV. Bydło
Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade IV
Pictures At An Exhibition: V. Ballet Of The Chickens In Their Shells
Pictures At An Exhibition: VI. Samuel Goldenberg & Schmuÿle
Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade V
Pictures At An Exhibition: VII. The Marketplace At Limoges
Pictures At An Exhibition: Viiia. Catacombæ (Sepulcrum Romanum)
Pictures At An Exhibition: Viiib. Con Mortuis In Lingua Mortua
Pictures At An Exhibition: IX. The Hut On Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yagá)
Pictures At An Exhibition: X. The Great Gate At Kiev

UPC: 7318599923079
Label: Bis
Release Date: 5.11.18
Format: CD

Beethoven / Haefliger - Perspectives 7 (CD)