Beethoven: Egmont, Op. 84 (Live)

Beethoven’s Egmont Overture is a staple of concert programmes, but the rest of the music he wrote to accompany Goethe’s play is less widely known. The Helsinki Baroque Orchestra present the complete incidental music that Beethoven wrote for Egmont, with soprano Elisabeth Breuer and speaker Robert Hunger-Bühler, conducted by Aapo Häkinen. The orchestra performs on period instruments.

Featuring

Aapo Häkkinen
Elisabeth Breuer
Robert Hunger-Bühler
Helsinki Baroque Orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven

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Interpretation

The Helsinki Baroque Orchestra performs this recording on period instruments, aiming for an authentic sound.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Goethe intended for the music in Egmont to transcend words, demonstrating that Egmont's death would spark the fight for freedom, culminating in a 'victory symphony'.

Composition History

Goethe commissioned composer Philipp Christoph Kayser to write music for Egmont while still in Italy, which led to music playing a central role in the play's closing section.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Goethe consciously departed from the historical figure of Count Lamoral of Egmont, Prince of Gavere, to create a more liberal character for his play, marked by generosity and a 'laisser-faire' attitude.

Composition History

Beethoven began composing his incidental music for Goethe's tragedy Egmont in the autumn of 1809, inspired by Napoleon's siege of Vienna and the Spanish uprising against the French.

Composer Biography

Beethoven was an ardent admirer of Goethe, having set Mignon's song 'Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt' four times in 1808 alone, even before receiving the commission for Egmont.

Composition History

Beethoven's setting of Clärchen's songs for Egmont was influenced by his meeting with Antonie Adamberger, a celebrated young heroine of the Viennese theatre, who he jovially coached.