| 1 CD |
€ 19.95
|
Preorder |
| Label Challenge Classics |
UPC 0608917200706 |
Catalogue number CC 720070 |
Release date 04 September 2026 |
In this third volume of his acclaimed Beethoven fortepiano cycle, Roberto Prosseda explores four early piano sonatas composed between 1796 and 1799, including the iconic Pathétique Sonata, the expansive Op. 7, and the intimate Op. 49 sonatas. Performing on an original 1820 Conrad Graf fortepiano, Prosseda reveals a Beethoven who is bold, unpredictable, and deeply theatrical - an improviser whose music breathes with rhetorical power, expressive contrasts, and remarkable spontaneity. Rather than seeking historical reconstruction, this recording offers a fresh rediscovery of Beethoven’s creative imagination through the distinctive colours and responsiveness of one of the finest surviving instruments of its kind.
Recorded at the renowned Musicafelix Studio in Prato, Italy, this album benefits from an exceptional acoustic environment that beautifully captures the fortepiano’s unique palette of transparent bass, eloquent middle register, and crystalline treble. Together, Prosseda’s insightful interpretation and the studio’s natural sound create an immersive listening experience that brings Beethoven’s early masterpieces vividly to life, balancing architectural grandeur with poetic intimacy.
“I continue to perceive a remarkably living presence: a Beethoven who improvises, experiments, and takes risks.” - Roberto Prosseda
Im dritten Teil seines gefeierten Beethoven-Zyklus auf dem Hammerflügel widmet sich Roberto Prosseda vier frühen Klaviersonaten, die zwischen 1796 und 1799 entstanden. Dazu gehören die ikonische Pathétique, die weit ausgreifende Sonate op. 7 und die intimen Sonaten op. 49. Auf einem originalen Conrad-Graf-Hammerflügel aus dem Jahr 1820 lässt Prosseda einen Beethoven hervortreten, der kühn, unberechenbar und zutiefst theatralisch ist einen Improvisator, dessen Musik von rhetorischer Kraft, ausdrucksstarken Kontrasten und bemerkenswerter Spontaneität lebt. Statt eine historische Rekonstruktion anzustreben, ermöglicht diese Aufnahme eine neue Entdeckung von Beethovens schöpferischer Fantasie durch die charakteristischen Klangfarben und die sensible Ansprache eines der hervorragendsten erhaltenen Instrumente seiner Art.
Aufgenommen im renommierten Musicafelix Studio in Prato, Italien, profitiert das Album von einer außergewöhnlichen akustischen Umgebung, die das einzigartige Klangspektrum des Hammerflügels mit seinen transparenten Bässen, dem ausdrucksvollen Mittelregister und den kristallklaren Höhen eindrucksvoll einfängt. Prossedas einfühlsame Interpretation und der natürliche Klang des Studios schaffen gemeinsam ein intensives Hörerlebnis, das Beethovens frühe Meisterwerke lebendig werden lässt und architektonische Größe mit poetischer Intimität verbindet.
„Ich nehme weiterhin eine bemerkenswert lebendige Gegenwart wahr: einen Beethoven, der improvisiert, experimentiert und Risiken eingeht.“ – Roberto Prosseda
Roberto Prosseda, born in Latina in 1975, is one of the most active and versatile Italian musicians on the current international scene. He gained international fame following his Decca CDs dedicated to the piano music of Felix Mendelssohn, which he recorded in full on 10 CDs (2005 - 2014), published in a single box set in 2017 ("Mendelssohn Complete Piano Works") .
Over the past twenty years Roberto has performed regularly with some of the world's leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Moscow State Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia, Filarmonica della Scala, Bamberger Symphoniker, Brussels Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest, Netherlands Symphony, Berliner Symphoniker, Staatskapelle Weimar, Calgary Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus. He has performed under the baton of David Afkham, Marc Albrecht, Christian Arming, Harry Bickett, Oleg Caetani, Riccardo Chailly, Jakub Hrusa, Pietari Inkinen, Yannik Nezeit-Seguin, George Pehlivanian, Dennis Russel-Davies, Tugan Sokhiev, Jurai Valcuha, Jan Willem de Vriend. With the Gewandhaus Orchester conducted by Riccardo Chailly, he recorded the unpublished Concerto in E minor by Mendelssohn, published by Decca in September 2009. In Italy he is a regular guest of the major concert institutions, including the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Teatro alla Scala, the Unione Musicale of Turin, the Teatro la Fenice, the Accademia Chigiana of Siena, the Teatro Comunale of Bologna. Roberto is also particularly appreciated in the interpretations of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, authors to whom he has also dedicated himself in his most recent Decca recordings. His recording of Mozart Sonatas, recorded on Fazioli piano with unequal Vallotti tuning (6 Decca CDs, 2015-18), has received considerable international acclaim. In 2022 Roberto completed the recording of Mozarts’ complete piano works in 11 CDs.
In 2010 Deutsche Grammophon selected twelve recordings by Prosseda to include them in the "Classic Gold" box set, published in May 2010. Since 2011, he has also played the piano-pedalier in public, having rediscovered and presented in modern premieres various pieces by Alkan and the Concert by Charles Gounod for piano-pedalier and orchestra with the Toscanini Philharmonic of Parma, which he has re-performed with the Berliner Symphoniker, the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Lahti Philharmonic, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and recorded the 4 pieces by Charles Gounod for Pedal Piano and orchestra with Orchestra della Radio Svizzera Italiana and Howard Shelley for Hyperion. Roberto Prosseda gave 100 concerts with the pedal piano, contributing to the rediscovery of the instrument and its repertoire. Roberto Prosseda is equally active as a music writer and author Radio and TV project, being also the creator of innovative musical programs of international scope. He conceived three TV documentaries, directed by Angelo Bozzolini, about Mendelssohn, Chopin and Liszt, produced by RAI and worldwide distributed by Euroarts.
His book "Il Pianoforte”, a listening guide to piano repertoire, was published by Curci in 2013.
In 2023/24 Roberto has been artistic consultant of Teatro “Verdi” in Pordenone. He is currently artistic director of Cremona Musica International Exhibitions and of Patmos Chamber Music Festival, which he co-founded in 2022.
In 2026 he won the ICMA - International Classical Music Awards for his CD "War Silence" (Hyperion) for the "Concertos" category.
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