• We’re going to hear a great deal of Beethoven this year, the 250th anniversary of his birth, but what of the music that shaped and influenced him, so much of it forgotten today? The German conductor Reinhard Goebel aims to enlighten us in a new Sony Classical series entitled Beethoven’s World.
It begins with a first-rate recording of Violin Concertos Nos 1 and 2 by Franz Joseph Clement (1780-1842). This virtuoso gave the 1805 premiere of his own first violin concerto in D major in the same concert that his friend Beethoven’s Symphony No 3 “Eroica” was unleashed on a wary world. Clement’s concerto received a warmer reception than Beethoven’s symphony, but that didn’t stop Beethoven writing his own now far more famous Op 61 Violin Concerto in D major for Clement the following year, and dedicating it to him. This in turn inspired Clement to write his second violin concerto, in D minor, recorded here for the first time.
While Clement’s writing lacks the audacity of Beethoven’s, he points the way in terms of structure, style and orchestration, with silvery melodic lines that spring from within the orchestral texture, rather than merely gliding over an accompaniment. Clement’s second concerto is a sweetly grave homage to Beethoven, complete with strikingly imitative writing for woodwind and timpani. Soloist Mirijam Contzen produces a ravishing sound, complemented by the suave playing of the WDR Symphony Orchestra.
• And talking of neglected composers, the colourful Henry Litolff (1818-91), pianist and jailbird (he escaped a debtor’s prison in a farm cart, aided by the jailer’s daughter), wrote music of excitable, high-octane brilliance, as his two Piano Trios (Hyperion) attest. The Leonore Piano Trio haul these dazzling delights back into the daylight with suitably virtuosic verve. Prepare to have your pulse rate raised.
• As the BBC comes under fire from a hostile government, it’s worth marking the many tremendous things the licence fee does for music in this country. Go to BBC Sounds and listen to Radio 3’s New Generation Artists day, a 20th anniversary celebration of a scheme that has launched more than 100 exceptional talents. Back off, barbarians.
