Beecke: Piano Concertos

Featuring

Johannes Moesus
Nataša Veljković
Bayerisches Kammerorchester Bad Brückenau
Ignaz von Beecke

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Composer Biography

Ignaz von Beecke, the composer on this album, was a military officer who served in the Bavarian Dragoon Regiment and participated in campaigns against the Prussians during the Seven Years' War.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Beecke greatly admired Joseph Haydn, writing to Prince Kraft Ernst that "Apart from Haydn's compositions, there is nothing good in this country's music capable of suiting us."

Performer Biography

Nataša Veljkovi´c, the pianist on this album, began playing piano at age four and completed her studies at the Vienna University of Music with distinction at nineteen.

Critical Reception

Beecke's contemporaries, like Ernst Ludwig Gerber, referred to him as a "dilettante," a term that in the 18th century simply meant he did not earn his living primarily as a musician.

Compositional Technique

Beecke's concertos often feature instrumental recitative, similar to the concertos of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and are noted for their "theatrical taste."

Composer Biography

Beecke was a welcome guest in Vienna at the home of Countess Wilhelmine of Thun and Hohenstein, a pupil of Joseph Haydn, and maintained friendly relations with Christoph Willibald Gluck.

Performer Biography

Nataša Veljkovi´c won the prestigious Prix Clara Haskil, one of the leading piano competitions, at the age of seventeen, and the first prize at the World Music Masters in Paris.