Ivo Pogorelich is perhaps the only great pianist who became an instant celebrity for the prize he didn’t win. It was in 1980, when he was eliminated in the third round of the Warsaw Chopin Competition. An argument ensued among the jurors, and Martha Argerich, a member of the jury, resigned in protest, claiming “Pogorelich is a genius!” The scandal provoked by Argerich’s reaction made him famous overnight. The eyes of the musical world were soon upon young Ivo Pogorelich, and they have yet to be disappointed. Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade in 1958 and began playing the piano at the age of seven. After his classical training at the Moscow Conservatory, he took master classes from Aliza Kezeradze, who passed on to him the tradition of the Liszt-Siloti school. In an interview with the German weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, Pogorelich once listed the four most important things he learned from Kezeradze: “First, technical perfection as something natural. Second, an insight into the development of the piano sound, as perfected by the pianist-composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, composers who understood the piano both as a human voice … and as an orchestra with which they could produce a variety of colors. Third, the need to learn how to use every aspect of our new instruments, which are richer in sound. Fourth, the importance of differentiation.” Pogorelich won the Casagrande Competition in 1978 and the first prize of the International Music Competition in Montreal in 1980. Since the Warsaw scandal, Pogorelich has been pursuing a brilliant international career. His debuts in London, Paris, New York, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome, Milan and Tel Aviv were triumphs. He has performed with practically all the major orchestras in the world, and his recitals are almost always sold out. Comparing him with Horowitz, the New York Times once wrote: “He was an entire orchestra.” His often controversial and always stunning interpretations confirm the originality of his talent and intellect. In 1986 and 1987, when Pogorelich was in his late 20s, Unitel recorded a series of six recitals with the artist in venues of particularly striking beauty. The fact that the young pianist chose several pieces that are not among the most spectacular or frequently performed of the piano repertoire already hints at the unique and uncompromising character of this young pianist.
Beethoven, “Für Elise” in A minor
Ivo Pogorelich is perhaps the only great pianist who became an instant celebrity for the prize he didn’t win. It was in 1980, when he was eliminated in the third round of the Warsaw Chopin Competition. An argument ensued among the jurors, and Martha Argerich, a member of the jury, resigned in protest, claiming “Pogorelich is a genius!” The scandal provoked by Argerich’s reaction made him famous overnight. The eyes of the musical world were soon upon young Ivo Pogorelich, and they have yet to be disappointed. Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade in 1958 and began playing the piano at the age of seven. After his classical training at the Moscow Conservatory, he took master classes from Aliza Kezeradze, who passed on to him the tradition of the Liszt-Siloti school. In an interview with the German weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, Pogorelich once listed the four most important things he learned from Kezeradze: “First, technical perfection as something natural. Second, an insight into the development of the piano sound, as perfected by the pianist-composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, composers who understood the piano both as a human voice … and as an orchestra with which they could produce a variety of colors. Third, the need to learn how to use every aspect of our new instruments, which are richer in sound. Fourth, the importance of differentiation.” Pogorelich won the Casagrande Competition in 1978 and the first prize of the International Music Competition in Montreal in 1980. Since the Warsaw scandal, Pogorelich has been pursuing a brilliant international career. His debuts in London, Paris, New York, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome, Milan and Tel Aviv were triumphs. He has performed with practically all the major orchestras in the world, and his recitals are almost always sold out. Comparing him with Horowitz, the New York Times once wrote: “He was an entire orchestra.” His often controversial and always stunning interpretations confirm the originality of his talent and intellect. In 1986 and 1987, when Pogorelich was in his late 20s, Unitel recorded a series of six recitals with the artist in venues of particularly striking beauty. The fact that the young pianist chose several pieces that are not among the most spectacular or frequently performed of the piano repertoire already hints at the unique and uncompromising character of this young pianist.
Beethoven, Quintet for Piano and Wind Instruments in E flat major, op.16
Beethoven, String Quartet No.9 in C major, op.59 “Rasumovsky Quartet III”
Beethoven, String Quartet No.15 in A minor, op. 132
Beethoven, King Stephan Overture, op.117
In October 1811, a new German theater was due to be opened in Pest (now part of Budapest); and Beethoven was commissioned to write the inaugural music for the event. The King Stephen Overture, named after the Hungarian King, begins with a slow introduction. Then follows a lively Hungarian tune and a “Friss,” a quick and melodic section of the “csárdás.” Indeed, Leonard Bernstein has described this overture as “a charmer and a curiosity, a cross between Béla Bartók and Shortnin’ Bread.” This recording is part of Leonard Bernstein’s Beethoven cycle, recorded primarily with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1980s. Writing in The New York Times, critic John J. O’Connor stated: “As Mr. Bernstein says, there is ‘no single body of work in the universe of orchestral music that is in any way comparable to this one.’ Conducted with intense dedication and soaring spirits by Mr. Bernstein, these recordings are superb, both visually and aurally.”
Beethoven, Music from the ballet “The Creatures of Prometheus”, op. 43
The Creatures of Prometheus, a ballet produced in Vienna in 1801, was not well received at its first performance. Today, aside from the overture, the ballet music is rarely heard. This work was composed during a time of intense personal crisis for Beethoven. In 1801 he wrote a friend, “I am leading a miserable life; for almost two years now I have been avoiding all social functions simply because I feel incapable of telling people that I am deaf.” The ballet is based on the myth of the god Prometheus, who stole the fire from the heavens and gave it to mankind, along with the knowledge of arts and sciences. In writing the Prometheus score, Beethoven had to adhere to the conventions of ballet music, which required a chain of relatively short pieces. This recording is part of Leonard Bernstein’s Beethoven cycle, recorded primarily with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1980s. Writing in The New York Times, critic John J. O’Connor stated: “As Mr. Bernstein says, there is ‘no single body of work in the universe of orchestral music that is in any way comparable to this one.’ Conducted with intense dedication and soaring spirits by Mr. Bernstein, these recordings are superb, both visually and aurally.”
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major, op.73 “Emperor”
Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, his longest and most forceful, was composed in 1809. The opening movement immediately proclaims the concerto’s air of command, with its unexpected beginning by the soloist alone. This very long first movement is followed by a compressed, intense second movement. Over a sustained, expectant low note held by the horns at the very end of the movement, the piano begins to build a theme which turns out to be the choppy, powerful rondo theme of the third movement. This work represents a synthesis of all the contrary forces at work in Beethoven’s oeuvre. Though it is often called the “Emperor” in English-language music literature, Beethoven did not call it thus. The work was premiered in Leipzig on 28 November 1811. Soloist Maurizio Pollini is one of the most distinguished pianists of our time, who has performed with the world’s leading orchestras. A committed advocate of contemporary music, Pollini frequently performs works by Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Nono, Boulez and Stockhausen. However, he has also given complete cycles of the Beethoven sonatas in Berlin, Milan, New York, Munich and other cities. On the occasion of a performance of the Beethoven concertos at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra presented him with its “golden ring”, a rare distinction awarded to only few musicians.
Beethoven, Symphony No.1 in C major, op. 21
The symphonies are part of the complete cycle of Beethoven symphonic and choral works featuring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam conducted by Leonard Bernstein. All the works were recorded live in Vienna: Unitel produced the video recordings and Deutsche Grammophon released the
soundtracks in a special edition. The series won the Ace Award, the National (U.S.) Cable TV Association’s top award for outstanding quality and entertainment value.
Beethoven, String Quartet No.14 in C sharp minor, op.123
The introverted and personal quality of Beethoven’s late style is evident in this string quartet, written the year before the composer’s death. At this stage in Beethoven’s life, he was composing more for himself than for an audience, for he no longer felt it necessary to prove himself to his public. Despite the popular belief that Beethoven (at that time) was indifferent to the sound of his music because of his deafness, his sketchbooks show that he rewrote the last four bars of the variations of the quartet 12 times. It is the music of a man who has experienced life. The composer thought that this was his greatest string quartet. A traditional string quartet consists of two violins, one viola and one cello, and is usually in four movements; the String Quartet in C sharp minor contains seven movements, played without a pause. Leonard Bernstein said: “The C sharp minor Quartet seems to cry out for the whole string section.” In this performance, the work is played by an orchestra of 60 strings. This recording is part of Leonard Bernstein’s Beethoven cycle, recorded primarily with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1980s. Writing in The New York Times, critic John J. O’Connor stated: “As Mr. Bernstein says, there is ‘no single body of work in the universe of orchestral music that is in any way comparable to this one.’ Conducted with intense dedication and soaring spirits by Mr. Bernstein, these recordings are superb, both visually and aurally.”