This recording of a live performance of music by the young Beethoven – his first operatic, symphonic and concert masterpieces – features one of the best of the newer ensembles on the international scene, Le Cercle de L’Harmonie under its conductor Jérémie Rhorer.

Formed in April 2005 in Deauville by Jeremy Rhorer and Julien Chauvin (first violin), le Cercle de l’Harmonie soon established itself as a significant force in the performance of great symphonic and operatic repertoires of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The ensemble is now invited to appear at major venues – including London’s Barbican Hall in June – and with artists such as Diana Damrau and Philippe Jaroussky, with whom it has recorded two CDs for Virgin Classics. This, the first in a series of productions for Ambroisie, presents Jérémie Rhorer’s first recording of works by Beethoven.

Today the music of Beethoven is regarded as a remarkable link in the chain of evolution of Western music, a judgement that is based mainly on the pieces he composed after 1800. However, there was in his artistic development a transitional period, around the turn of the century, when the works he composed appear to belong to the Classical tradition while presenting ideas that were to be developed later.

This recording features the major works of that period, the Symphony No.1 in C major, and the Romance for violin and orchestra in F major, Op.50. There are also three vocal works on the disc, the aria “O wär’ ich schon mit dir verein” from “Leonore”, the first version of Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio”, the dramatic scene “Ah Perfido”, and the concert aria “No non turbati”.