Premier recording of “complete Beethoven sonatas” played by Alexei Lubimov and his colleagues is recorded on copies of instruments from Beethoven’s era, built by the outstanding contemporary piano master Paul McNulty.
Beethoven’s music is highly symbiotic to his instruments, exhibiting many amazing sound effects no longer reproducible on current pianos. McNulty modern fortepiano copies — Stein, Walter, Graf and Buchholtz — reproduce originals to the smallest detail and allow the listener to transit the time, to experience Beethoven’s music with all bright colors and effects, as it was in the time when it was created.
The performance of Beethoven’s sonatas on the instruments of his era allows us to witness the dramatic tension between thought and matter, which forms the basis of Beethoven’s creativity. The performers’ choice of a particular instrument corresponds to the period of creation of a particular composition, its style and the nature of pianistic requirements.
The project of Moscow State Conservatory is made in honor of the 250th anniversary of the great composer, with the assistance of BP and the support of Warsaw Chopin Institute, has carried out a unique creative project for audio recording, publishing the Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas on 9 CDs.
The author of the project idea and the performer is Alexei Lyubimov and his colleges – Yuri Martynov, Olga Martynova, Alexandra Koreneva, Elizaveta Miller, Olga Pashchenko and Alexey Zuev.