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The Beethoven-Willems Collection | ABC Classics ABC4810464

The Beethoven-Willems Collection

Label: ABC Classics

Cat No: ABC4810464

Barcode: 0028948104642

Format: CD + DVD

Number of Discs: 15

Release Date: 20th January 2014

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Contents

About

Gerard Willems is arguably one of the World’s pre-eminent Beethoven interpreters and one of Australia’s finest concert pianists. In addition to Beethoven’s complete piano concertos, this 15-disc collection presents his ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) Award-winning recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, plus the rarely heard Electoral Sonatas – products of Beethoven’s teen years that reveal how early his astonishing talent began to manifest itself – the Fantasia Sonata in D major, (reconstructed by Dutch musicologist Cees Nieuwenhuizen) along with the Diabelli Variations, C minor Variations, Andante favori and Für Elise.

The boxed set includes extensive notes and annotations contained in a 100 page booklet.

This Beethoven offering is recorded on the Australian designed and built Stuart & Sons piano. The Stuart & Sons piano is distinctive on many levels but is unique in the way the piano is strung, which liberates the instrument's dynamic range. The piano also features an extra 2 octaves (102 keys total), producing a distinctly characteristic sound, combining the great aspects of the established pianos' marques: Steinway’s subtle tones, the richness of the Bösendorfer Imperial, the evenness of a Yamaha, with the fabulous casework surpassing that of a Fazioli.

Gerard Willems was born in Tilburg, Holland. He made his London debut in 1974, Munich in 1977 and Amsterdam in 1978 and has lived in Australia since 1981. He is now Chair of the Keyboard Department at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. For the concerto recordings, Willems worked with acclaimed ABC Classics conductor Antony Walker, who is currently Music Director of the Pittsburgh Opera and the Washington Concert Opera.


Box set contents:
Discs 1–11 Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas, Fantasia Sonata, Diabelli Variations, C minor Variations, Andante favori and Für Elise
Discs 12–14 Complete Piano Concertos
DVD - Beethoven: ‘Emperor’ Concerto performance with commentary, plus 'Wayne Stuart – Piano Man’ - creator of Stuart & Sons.

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