CCMusic.com

Ludwig van Beethoven took his first musical steps in the chapel of the prince-bishop's court in Bonn. With the "Edition Hofkapelle", the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn is searching for traces. The first series of Harmoniemusik reveals something astonishing: Beethoven was never again as operatic as he was in Bonn, inspired by a musical environment that appreciated musical entertainment at the highest level. "Richard the Lionheart" was on everyone's lips and ears in Beethoven's Bonn time; the master himself composed a cycle of piano variations on Grétry's catchy melodies. It is not unlikely that he also knew Franz Ehrenfried's harmony music on the popular opera, which the wind players of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn present here with a delight in the theatrical - from Blondel's soulful romance "Une fièvre brûlante" to the spirited drinking song about the Sultan Saladin. The Hofkapelle approaches Beethoven's Octet with equal verve, which, despite the misleading opus number 103, can be located in his Bonn period. Beethoven is seldom heard in such a lively and animated manner - associations from Mozart's "Abduction" to Rossini's "Barber" come to mind. The "Rondino" is given a particularly distinctive color by the impressively virtuoso use of natural horns, which Beethoven knows how to enhance even further by playing with mutes. As orchestra director, Joseph Reicha must have had a special influence on the young Beethoven; this may be evident from both sextets. With Lorenzo Coppola as coach, the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn has brought in a real specialist for wind music of the classical period, and the fact that with the rococo festival hall of the Redoute, an almost originally preserved performance venue can be experienced on this album and the three-dimensional sound rounds off this unusual production beautifully.