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SACD

Isabelle van Keulen and Hannes Minnaar – Beethoven: Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin (2014) [SACD / Challenge Classics – CC72650]

adminMarch 2, 2026 56 Views

Title: Isabelle van Keulen and Hannes Minnaar – Beethoven: Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin (2014)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This four-disc hybrid SACD set presents the complete works for piano and violin of Ludwig van Beethoven. The performers are the critically-acclaimed Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keuelen and the talented young compatriot, pianist Hannes Minnaar. This is very enjoyable performances and recording by two outstanding young artists.

The original title given to the first edition of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 9 opus 47 known as the Kreutzer Sonata, refers to the piece as a work for “pianoforte with violin obligato”. This clearly shows Beethoven’s revolutionary thinking on priorities as regards the piano-violin combination, a reflection it would seem of the fact that the composer saw the music as a vehicle for his own virtuoso skills on the keyboard. The first eight violin sonatas, opus 12, nos.1-3, opus 23 and 24, and opus 30, nos.1-3, were composed between 1798 and 1802, but then, after composing the “Kreutzer” Sonata in 1803 he set the genre aside until 1812, the year in which the opus 96 sonata in G major was written. Isabelle van Keulen has an established reputation as a violinist and viola player of world-class stature. Over the last few years she has released recordings on Challenge Classics with the pianist Ronald Brautigam of music by Shostakovich, Richard Strauss, Respighi and Rota, Grieg, Elgar and Sibelius, Prokofiev, and with her own Isabelle van Keulen Ensemble, Piazzolla (Tango!). Hannes Minnaar made his debut with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alessandro de Marchi at the age of 17. Since then he has performed with many leading orchestras including the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, and worked with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Herbert Blomstedt, and Frans Brüggen. In 2013 he made his first solo appearance with The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. Hannes Minnaar is also active as a chamber musician and is a member of the award-winning Van Baerle Trio.

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SACD

Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: The Complete Piano Concertos (2017) [SACD / Challenge Classics – CC 72763]

adminFebruary 9, 2026 76 Views

Title: Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: The Complete Piano Concertos (2017)
Genre: Classical
Format: DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Here is the box containing Beethoven’s five Piano Concertos performed by Hannes Minnaar and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend. So far two single volumes had been issued: while the one including Concertos nos. 4 & 5 was acclaimed by Gramophone as: “beginning a Beethoven cycle with the Fourth and Fifth Concertos is a bold move but one that pays off in all sorts of ways”, the same magazine welcomed the disc with Concertos nos. 1 & 2 for “its pleasing mix of finesse and drive”. Now the box also offers the so far unissued Concerto #3. Despite the very large number of recordings already made of this musical corpus, Minnaar and de Vriend have proved that they have something new and totally their own to say about this collection of masterpieces. And it is indeed the peculiar blend of sheer energy and esprit de finesse that can be identified as the distinctive brand or these recordings.

Pianist Hannes Minnaar has made a name for himself as a soloist with three albums to his name, member of the award-winning Van Baerle Trio, and most recently winner of the Dutch Music Award in 2016, the highest available from the Dutch Government. This means being in a safe pair of hands when it comes to the solo parts for Beethoven’s five Piano Concertos. These recordings have already appeared as individual CDs aside from the Third Concerto which, being too short in duration for a physical release, has been download-only until now. There is an interesting aspect of this recording hidden at the back of the booklet. Along with the selection of a Steinway & Sons concert grand by the soloist there is mention of the efforts made by tuner Gerben Bisschop to “prepare the historical tuning of the instrument.” This is not further clarified, but presumably implies a move from equal temperament to a more old-fashioned meantone tuning. You probably wouldn’t notice much difference here in comparison to alternative modern-piano recordings, though it I had to make a call on the character of the piano in relationship to the orchestra then it seems just a little warmer in tone. The trend for piano sound in recent years has been for sparkly brilliance, and this extra touch with regard to the preparation of the piano lends an extra waft of expressive nuance to the whole. That exposed first chord at the beginning of the Fourth Concerto is certainly interestingly textured.

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