Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Franz Halász, Débora Halász
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Bis
Size: 1.06 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Serenade in D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halász for Guitar & Piano)
01. I. Entrata. Allegro
02. II. Tempo ordinario d’un menuetto
03. III. Allegro molto
04. IV. Andante con variazioni
05. V. Allegro scherzando e vivace
06. VIa. Adagio
07. VIb. Allegro vivace e disinvolto
08. Sonatina in C Minor, WoO 43a (Arr. D. Halász for Guitar & Piano)
09. 12 Variations on “Se vuol ballare,” WoO 40 (Arr. D. Halász for Guitar & Piano)
10. Sonatina in C Major, WoO 44a (Arr. D. Halász for Guitar & Piano)
11. Adagio in E-Flat Major, WoO 43b (1796 Version) [Arr. D. Halász for Guitar & Piano]
12. Andante con variazioni in D Major, WoO 44b (Arr. D. Halász for Guitar & Piano)
5 Pieces for Mechanical Clock, WoO 33 (Arr. D. Halász for Guitar & Piano)
13. No. 1, Adagio in F Major
14. No. 2, Scherzo in G Major
15. No. 3, Allegro in G Major
16. No. 4, Allegro in C Major
17. No. 5, Minuet in C Major
18. 12 Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen,” Op. 66 (Arr. F. Carulli for Guitar & Piano as Op. 169)
Around 1800 Vienna was, alongside Paris, one of the European centres for guitar performance. The instrument was well suited for the idiom of Viennese classicism and ideal for domestic music-making and it was promoted by figures such as the virtuoso Mauro Giuliani and the composer/publisher Anton Diabelli. But Beethoven, the towering giant of musical Vienna, seems to have been unmoved by the charms of the guitar while instead composing for its sibling, the mandolin. Duo Halász, the husband and wife team of Franz and Débora Halász, has now rectified this, by appropriating Beethovens four extant pieces for mandolin and piano (WoO43 and 44) as well as adapting some other early compositions, including the Serenade in D major for flute and piano and the Variations on Mozarts Se vuol ballare for violin and piano. In doing so they follow the example of an eminent guitarist and contemporary of Beethoven, namely Ferdinando Carulli, whose 1825 arrangement of the Variations on Mozarts Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen closes the programme. Franz and Débora Halász have made a number of recordings for BIS, together and separately, to critical acclaim, including a Latin Grammy Award for their disc Alma Brasileira with chamber works by Radamés Gnattali.