Description

Around 1800 Vienna was, alongside Paris, one of the European centers for guitar performance. The instrument was well suited for the idiom of Viennese classicism and ideal for domestic music-making and it was promoted by figures such as the virtuoso Mauro Giuliani and the composer/publisher Anton Diabelli. But Beethoven, the towering giant of musical Vienna, seems to have been unmoved by the charms of the guitar – while instead composing for it’s sibling, the mandolin. Duo Halsz, the husband and wife team of Franz and Dbora Halsz have now rectified this, by appropriating Beethoven’s four extant pieces for mandolin and piano (WoO?43 and 44) as well as adapting some other early compositions, including the Serenade in D major for flute and piano and the Variations on Mozart’s ‘Se vuol ballare’ for violin and piano. In doing so they follow the example of an eminent guitarist and contemporary of Beethoven, namely Ferdinando Carulli, whose 1825 arrangement of the Variations on Mozart’s ‘Ein Mdchen oder Weibchen’ closes the programme. Franz and Dbora Halsz have made a number of recordings for BIS, together and separately, to critical acclaim, including a Latin Grammy Award for their disc Alma Brasileira with chamber works by Radams Gnattali.

Tracklist:

1. Serenade In D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): I. Entrata. Allegro
2. Serenade In D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): II. Tempo Ordinario D’un Menuetto
3. Serenade In D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): III. Allegro Molto
4. Serenade In D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): IV. Andante Con Variazioni
5. Serenade In D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): V. Allegro Scherzando E Vivace
6. Serenade In D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): Via. Adagio
7. Serenade In D Major, Op. 41 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): Vib. Allegro Vivace E Disinvolto
8. Sonatina In C Minor, Woo 43a (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano)
9. 12 Variations On “Se Vuol Ballare,” Woo 40 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano)
10. Sonatina In C Major, Woo 44a (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano)
11. Adagio In E-Flat Major, Woo 43b (1796 Version) [Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano]
12. Andante Con Variazioni In D Major, Woo 44b (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano)
13. 5 Pieces For Mechanical Clock, Woo 33 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): No. 1, Adagio In F Major
14. 5 Pieces For Mechanical Clock, Woo 33 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): No. 2, Scherzo In G Major
15. 5 Pieces For Mechanical Clock, Woo 33 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): No. 3, Allegro In G Major
16. 5 Pieces For Mechanical Clock, Woo 33 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): No. 4, Allegro In C Major
17. 5 Pieces For Mechanical Clock, Woo 33 (Arr. D. Halsz For Guitar & Piano): No. 5, Minuet In C Major
18. 12 Variations On “Ein Mdchen Oder Weibchen,” Op. 66 (Arr. F. Carulli For Guitar & Piano As Op. 169)