Ignaz von Beecke Concertos pour piano Veljkovic Moesus - CPO777827 - CPO - Classique

Ancien officier de l'armée bavaroise pendant la guerre de sept ans, le compositeur Ignaz von Beecke se voit confier la responsabilité de l'orchestre de la cour de Wallerstein. Il se lie alors avec des musiciens tels que Gluck ou Haydn qui marqueront sa musique. L'histoire a retenu qu'il aurait eu le dessus dans une joute pianistique contre le jeune Mozart. Les deux concertos enregistrés ici traitent le piano comme un héros d'opéra faisant son entrée sur un récitatif dramatique précédant un arioso. C'est dire si le compositeur s'affranchit des formes classiques. Sa conception du concerto est moins opposition que musique de groupe. Le soliste s'intègre au sein de l'orchestre qui ne se limite pas à un rôle d'accompagnement. Beecke soigne tout particulièrement les parties des vents. L'Andante, initialement prévu pour le concerto en Ré, comporte une partie de hautbois obligato qui pourrait être un hommage à Jean-Sébastien Bach. La pianiste Natasa Veljkovic a hérité de son mentor Paul Badura-Skoda le goût des interprétations historiquement documentées du répertoire classique. On ne pouvait souhaiter meilleur guide pour de telles partitions méconnues. (Thomas Herreng)

Today nothing remains of Ignaz von Beecke’s former renown as a pianist and composer. The early music lexicographers Gerber and Lipowsky were among those who celebrated his renown, but his many works have all been forgotten. And yet he created music of great originality very much absolutely worth getting to know again in the concert hall and on sound carriers. The present CD featuring his piano concertos is a genuinely pioneering effort inasmuch as it represents one of the first commercial releases with works by this composer. Beecke’s early works continued to be obliged to early classicism, while his late oeuvre of the 1790s began opening the door wide to romanticism. During the 1750s he initially served as an officer. In 1759 he made his way to the Wallerstein court as an adjutant to Hereditary Prince Kraft Ernst von Oettingen-Wallerstein. It was also here that he celebrated his first successes as a pianist and wrote his first compositions. From 1763 until his death he was the local court music director. Under his leadership the court ensemble earned high esteem. In Schubart’s Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst of 1784-85 it is stated that Beecke »numbers not only among the best grand pianists but also among the most outstanding and most original composers. His imagination is rich and brilliant, and – what is most to his honor – his whole playing style is self-made. He has formed a school in piano that one terms the ‘Beeckian'". Nataša Veljkoviæ, who has accomplished so many wonderful pioneering feats on behalf of Heinrich von Herzogenberg and Dora Pejaèeviæ, is our "best grand pianist".