Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op. 61, Septet, Op. 20 & Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 105 & 107 Leonidas Kavakos

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61:
• 1 Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61: I. Allegro ma non troppo 27:23
• 2 Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61: II. Larghetto 11:31
• 3 Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61: III. Rondo - Allegro 10:28
• Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20:
• 4 Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20: I. Adagio - Allegro con brio 09:50
• 5 Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20: II. Adagio cantabile 08:56
• 6 Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20: III. Tempo di menuetto 03:11
• 7 Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20: IV. Tema con variazioni. Andante 07:31
• 8 Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20: V. Scherzo - Allegro molto e vivace 03:16
• 9 Septet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20: VI. Andante con moto alla marcia - Presto 07:48
• Variations on Folk Song, Op. 105:
• 10 Variations on Folk Song, Op. 105: No. 3, A Schüsserl und a Reindl 05:53
• 11 Variations on Folk Song, Op. 107: No. 1, I bin a Tiroler Bua 04:58
• 12 Variations on Folk Song, Op. 107: No. 2, Bonny Laddie, Highland Laddie 02:41
• 13 Variations on Folk Song, Op. 107: No. 6, Peggy's Daughter 03:54
• 14 Variations on Folk Song, Op. 107: No. 7, Schöne Minka 05:55
• Total Runtime 01:53:15

Info for Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op. 61, Septet, Op. 20 & Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 105 & 107

Leonidas Kavakos gibt mit dem Violinkonzert, wie auch mit dem frühen Septett und den raren Variationen über Volksweisen, eindringlich seine Visitenkarte fürs Beethoven-Jahr 2020 ab.

Der ganz seltene Fall eines „kompletten“ Musikers unter den Geigern unserer Zeit: Einer der gefragtesten Solisten des internationalen Konzertbetriebs, ständiger Partner aller Top-Orchester und der profiliertesten Dirigenten. Dazu ein überzeugender Anwalt des Duo-Repertoires für Violine und Klavier. Ein begeisterter Kammermusiker ohnehin – und inzwischen auch Dirigent. All diese Facetten seiner künstlerischen Aktivitäten bildet Leonidas Kavakos’ vorliegende Doppel-CD mit Werken Ludwig van Beethovens ab. Es ist die erste Veröffentlichung des 1967 geborenen Künstlers im Rahmen seines Exklusivvertrags bei Sony Classical.

Zum großen Jubiläum fügt es sich glücklich, dass die Repertoireauswahl alle drei Schaffensperioden des Komponisten berührt. Neben dem Violinkonzert und dem populären frühen Septett ist eine kleine Rarität zu entdecken: Bei den 1817/18 entstandenen „Variationen über Volksweisen“ für Klavier (hier Kavakos‘ langjähriger Klavierpartner Enrico Pace) mit Flöte oder Violine ad libitum handelt es sich um Gelegenheitswerke für den Musikalienmarkt

Im Zentrum aber steht das Violinkonzert: Obwohl Leonidas Kavakos es seit vielen Jahren mit einigen der bedeutendsten Dirigenten aufgeführt und mehrfach auch vom Instrument aus geleitet hat, fehlte eine Einspielung dieses Repertoireprüfsteins bislang in seiner vielfältigen Diskographie.

Kavakos hat eine sehr entschiedene Perspektive auf das Beethoven-Konzert: „Meiner Ansicht nach ist Beethoven mit stilisierten Affekten nicht beizukommen – eine ‚pure‘, kontrollierte, gleichsam entkörperlichte Tongebung reich nicht aus. Beethoven lässt den Horizont des 18. Jahrhunderts weit hinter sich und schaut entschlossen nach vorn!“.

Auffällig sind Kavakos’ selbst erarbeitete Kadenzen: Der Geiger legt ihnen jene Kadenzen zugrunde, die Beethoven wohl 1809 nachträglich für die eigenhändige Klavierfassung des Konzerts (1807) niedergeschrieben hat.

Die Aufnahme mit dem Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks entstand im Kontext seiner Residenz beim Orchester rund um eine Aufführungsserie im Münchner Gasteig. Konzertmeister war Anton Barakhowsky.

Leonidas Kavakos, Violine
Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Enrico Pace, Klavier
Heinrich Braun, Bass
Marco Postinghel, Bassoon
Wen Xiao Zheng, Viola
Eric Terwilliger, Horn
Hanno Simons, Cello
Christopher Corbett, Klarinette

Leonidas Kavakos
is recognised across the world as a violinist and artist of rare quality, acclaimed for his matchless technique, his captivating artistry and his superb musicianship as well as for the integrity of his playing. He works with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and plays as recitalist in the world’s premier recital halls and festivals. He is an exclusive recording artist with Sony Classical.

The three important mentors in his life have been Stelios Kafantaris, Josef Gingold, and Ferenc Rados, with whom he still works. By the age of 21, Leonidas Kavakos had already won three major competitions: the Sibelius Competition in 1985, and the Paganini and Naumburg competitions in 1988. This success led to him recording the original Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903/4), the first recording of this work in history, and which won Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award in 1991.

Kavakos is now an exclusive recording artist with Sony Classics. His latest recording, to be released worldwide in October 2019 in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in 2020, is the Beethoven Concerto which he conducted and played with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, coupled with the Beethoven Septet played with members of the orchestra. In the anniversary year, Kavakos will both play and play/conduct the Beethoven concerto with orchestras across Europe and the USA. He will also play the complete Beethoven Sonata cycle in Shanghai and Guangzhou, Milan and Rome, and a number of single Beethoven recitals in various cities including London’s Wigmore Hall, Barcelona, Parma and Copenhagen.

In 2007, for his recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Enrico Pace, Kavakos was named Echo Klassik Instrumentalist of the year. In 2014, Kavakos was awarded Gramophone Artist of the Year.

Further accolades came in 2017 when Kavakos was awarded the prestigious Leonie Sonning Prize – Denmark’s highest musical honour, given annually to an internationally recognised composer, condcutor, instrumentalist or singer. Previous winners include Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Alfred Brendel, Benjamin Britten, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Arthur Rubenstein and Dmitri Shostakovich.

August 2019 was a full and rewarding month: after the Verbier Festival where he appeared in recital with Evgent Kissin and conducted the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in a programme in which he played Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Antoine Tamestit, he joined YoYo Ma and Emanuel Ax at the Tanglewood Music Festival for a programme of Beethoven Piano trios, in a duo recital with Ax of Beethoven Sonatas, and in an orchestral concert with the Boston Symphony in which he played and conducted Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Dvorak Symphony No. 7.

Kavakos was also invited as “Artiste Etoile” at the Lucerne Festival where he appeared with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra with Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev, Vienna Philharmonic with Andes Orozco Estrada, and in recital with Yuja Wang.

In the 2019/20 season, in addition to concerts with major orchestras in Europe and the United States, Leonidas Kavakos will one again join YoYo Ma and Emanuel Ax for three programmes in Carngie Hall comprising Beethoven trios and sonatas. He will undertake two Asian tours, first as soloist with the Singapore Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic and in recital in the NCPA Beijing, and then in the spring he performs with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, prior to playing Beethoven Sonata Cycles in Shanghai and Guangzhou with Enrico Pace.

In recent year, Leonidas Kavakos has succeeded in building a strong profile as a conductor and has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Gürzenich Orchester, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Filarmonica Teatro La Fenice, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. In the forthcoming season he will return to two orchestra where he has developed close ties as both violinist and condcutor: L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. This season he also play/conducts theCzech Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.

Born and brought up in a musical family in Athens, Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber-music masterclass in Athens, which attracts violinists and ensembles from all over the world and reflects his deep commitment to the handing on of musical knowledge and traditions. Part of this tradition is the art of violin and bow-making, which Kavakos regards as a great mystery and to this day, an undisclosed secret. He plays the ‘Willemotte’ Stradivarius violin of 1734 and owns modern violins made by F. Leonhard, S.P. Greiner, E. Haahti and D. Bagué.

Booklet for Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op. 61, Septet, Op. 20 & Variations on Folk Songs, Op. 105 & 107