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Beethoven: König Stephan
8.574042 (Naxos, CD)
DDD
NEW RELEASE (10 January 2020)
Playing time: 74'00"
Tracks: 31
Booklet pages: 12
© 2019, 2020 Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd
Main country of recording: FI
Country of manufacture: DE
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Beethoven: König Stephan published on 26 April 2020
Listen: Beethoven: Overture (König Stephan) (track 1, 0:03-1:02)
Claus Obalski, speaker (Stephan) (tracks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18 and 20-22)
Roland Astor, speaker (Warrior, track 5 Envoy, track 7 and Old Man, track 17)
Ernst Oder, speaker (Gyula, track 7)
Angela Eberlein, speaker (Gisela, track 9)
Reetta Haavisto, soprano (track 25)
Johanna Lehesvuori, soprano (tracks 26 and 27)
Merja Mäkelä, alto (track 27)
Niklas Spångberg, bass (track 30)
Juha Kotilainen, bass (track 31)
Päivi Severeide, harp (track 25)
Key Ensemble (tracks 2, 4, 8, 10, 18, 19, 23 and 26-30)
Maikki Säikkä, soprano (track 28)
Kristina Raudanen, alto (track 28)
Andreas Nordström, bass (track 28)
Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis (tracks 24 and 31)
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8-11, 13, 15, 16, 18-23 and 26-31)
Leif Segerstam, conductor (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8-11, 13, 15, 16, 18-23 and 26-31)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827):
König Stephan, Op 117 (1811) (with text by August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue, 1761-1819)
1 Overture
2 Chorus: Resting from his exploits
3 Monologue: Welcome to the steps to this throne
4 Chorus: On a false and sombre path
5 Dialogue: Prince, the noblemen in the army
6 Victory March: Fiery and proud
7 Dialogue: Bold warriors, Hungary's pride and glory
8 Chorus: Where innocence has strewn flowers
9 Melodrama: You have left your native land
10 Chorus: A new, resplendent sun
11 Melodrama: Noble Hungarians
12 Monologue: Take a look at the past
13 Andante con moto
14 Monologue: Receive them from your Prince's hands
15 Maestoso con moto
16 Religious March: Moderato
17 Monologue: In this, the finest hour of your life
18 Chorus: God save our King; I respectfully adorn my head with this crown
19 Chorus: God save our King
20 Melodrama: May it always remain inviolable
21 Melodrama: There they arise, the noble princes
22 Melodrama: In vain will Discord bend her bow
23 Chorus: Hail to our descendants!
Leonore Prohaska, WoO 96 (1815) (text by Johann Friedrich Leopold Duncker, 1770-1842)
24 Chorus: We build and we perish
25 Romanze: A flower blooms
26 Opferlied ('Sacrificial Song'), Op 121b (Second setting, version for voice, choir and orchestra, 1824) (text by Friedrich von Matthisson, 1761-1831)
27 Bundeslied ('Song of Fellowship'), Op 122 - At every pleasant gathering) (1824) (text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832)
28 Opferlied, Op 121b (Second setting, version for three voices, choir and orchestra, 1822)
29 Ihr weisen Gründer glücklicher Staaten ('Wise founders of happy states'), WoO 95 (1814): Chor auf die verbündeten Fürsten ('Chorus on the Allied Princes') (anonymous text)
30 Die gute Nachtricht ('The Good News'): Chorus: Germania, WoO 94 (1814) (text by Georg Friedrich Treitschke, 1776-1842)
31 Die Ehrenpforten ('The Triumphal Arches'): Chorus: Es ist Vollbracht ('It is accomplished'), WoO 97 (1815) (text by Georg Friedrich Treitschke)
Recorded 27-31 August 2018 (tracks 1-23 and 25-30) and 15-19 October 2018 (tracks 24 and 31) at Turku Concert Hall, Finland.