Credits:

Feng, Ning

Description:

A collection of Beethoven's secret works by Zeffiro, a long-established organization on the Italian ancient instrument scene, combining the Viennese vogue with the compositional sense of the music saint, and performed by Italy's finest ancient instrument ensemble. During the period in which Beethoven was active, Emperor Joseph II favored the wind octet (an ensemble of two oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons each), and the wind ensembles called "partia" or "harmoni musici" for this configuration were popular in the open air and in the streets. Beethoven also followed this trend and wrote several substantial octets as a young man, as well as large-scale wind ensembles that sometimes included piccolos and percussion instruments, and it is thought that his compositional experience was used in his later symphonies. The revival of this recording by the masterful Zeffiro is a welcome addition to our knowledge of the great composer in the context of his own lifetime. Naxos Japan