Beethoven Septet & Eroica Claire Huangci, CHAARTS Chamber Artists

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica":
• 1 Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": I. Allegro con brio 12:25
• 2 Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai 13:01
• 3 Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 05:15
• 4 Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica": IV. Finale: Allegro molto 10:52
• Septet E-Flat Major, Op. 20:
• 5 Beethoven: Septet E-Flat Major, Op. 20: I. Adagio - Allegro con brio 07:32
• 6 Beethoven: Septet E-Flat Major, Op. 20: II. Adagio cantabile 08:13
• 7 Beethoven: Septet E-Flat Major, Op. 20: III. Tempo di menuetto 02:55
• 8 Beethoven: Septet E-Flat Major, Op. 20: IV. Tema con variazioni: Andante 06:27
• 9 Beethoven: Septet E-Flat Major, Op. 20: V. Scherzo: Allegro molto e vivace 03:01
• 10 Beethoven: Septet E-Flat Major, Op. 20: VI. Andante con moto alla marcia - Presto 07:28
• Total Runtime 01:17:09

Info for Beethoven Septet & Eroica

They affectionately call themselves "The greatest string quartet in the world" and have been putting on exciting, surprising and highly virtuoso programmes time and again for years: The Swiss chamber orchestra CHAARTS. Just recently, they were in the classical charts together with soprano Regula Mühlemann, and the Berlin Classics label was also able to release an extremely successful album (at number 8 in the Official German Album Charts) with this young ensemble with the album "Beyond Words" and horn player Felix Klieser. Now, under the sensitive direction of violinist Andreas Fleck, this recording was made in the St. Peter Church in Zurich. The Septet op. 20 as well as the 3rd Symphony op. Op. 55 "Eroica" can be heard. Together with the pianist Claire Huangci, they succeed in transforming Beethoven's mighty music to only four instruments without it losing its validity. This is of course not least due to the fabulous arrangement of the symphony by Beethoven's pupil Ferdinand Ries (1784- 1838), as well as the grandiose idea of adding an additional double bass. The latter came about during one of CHAARTS' many concerts. "The Beethoven Eroica project is basically a love letter to the great master with an eye to rediscovering rarities in the vast repertoire available to us",enthuses Claire Huangci. The US-American, who has lived in Hanover since her studies, is no stranger to Switzerland either. Not long ago, she won the renowned Concours Géza Anda piano competition for the second time and has already recorded albums and performed numerous concerts with the Basel Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Howard Griffith, in collaboration with the Swiss Orpheum Foundation.

In the present Beethoven recording, therefore, a double joy of playing and virtuosity meet. Ensemble and soloist are made for each other, driving each other and yet always maintaining a wonderful balance. "This recording will show listeners a new perspective of the popular symphony, emphasising the chamber music aspect of how five people can replace an orchestra," Claire Huangci is certain. Both the "Eroica" and the Septet are recorded live and thus develop a dramaturgically outstanding dynamic, which the "Eroica" in particular must radiate. Beethoven did indeed have Napoleon in mind when composing. But after Napoleon's egocentric self-exaltation as emperor, the music was now intended above all to remind us of the universal and positively understood heroic in every human being who achieves extraordinary things. Claire Huangci and CHAARTS Chamber Artists manage to reduce familiar music to its essentials and yet make it sound transparent and complete. "Working on the Eroica Symphony together with my colleagues was an eye-opener for me as a pianist" is how Claire Huangci describes the working process. "All the members of the ensemble already knew and played this symphony in different orchestrations, and we began to work together on this work with a certain degree of suspicion; it felt all the fresher to create an interpretation together in a close circle, free from a conductor or 90 other people. For us, it represents the essence of chamber music." The Septet in E-flat major, Op. 20, rounds off this extraordinary album in virtuoso fashion, in keeping with Beethoven's spirit.

Claire Huangci, piano
CHAARTS Chamber Artists

Claire Huangci
The young American pianist Claire Huangci, winner of the first prize and the Mozart prize at the 2018 Geza Anda Competition, continuously captivates audiences with her “radiant virtuosity, artistic sensitivity, keen interactive sense and subtle auditory dramaturgy” (Salzburger Nachrichten). With an irrepressible curiosity and penchant for unusual repertoire, she proves her versatility with a wide range in repertoire spanning from Bach and Scarlatti, to Bernstein, Gulda, and Corigliano.

In solo recitals and with international orchestras, Claire has appeared in some of the most prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall Tokyo, NCPA Beijing, Paris Philharmonie, Munich Gasteig, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Salzburg Festspielhaus, and the Budapest Franc Liszt Akademie. She is a welcome guest in renowned festivals including Lucerne Festival, Verbier Festival, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival and Klavier Festival Ruhr. Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, ORF Radio Orchester Vienna, Vancouver Symphony, and China Philharmonic Orchestra, together with Sir Roger Norrington, Howard Griffiths, Eva Ollikainen, Mario Venzago, Cornelius Meister, and Elim Chan are among her esteemed musical partners.

For an intense start of the 2020/21 season, Claire paid homage to Beethoven’s anniversary with a compelling interpretation of his Pastorale symphony arranged for solo piano by Franz Liszt, with concerts at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the Rheingau Musik Festival, where her recital was recorded for T-Mobile‘s streaming platform MagentaMusik 360. After appearances as a piano duo with Alexei Volodin at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and the release of a new album with her Trio Machiavelli, a major highlight is her Fall 2020 recital tour at the main halls of Berlin Philharmonie, and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. Later in the season, a further exciting debut takes place in the „Great Performers Series“ at New York‘s Lincoln Center. Among her orchestra engagements are dates with the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken, Museumsorchester Frankfurt, Basel Chamber Orchestra and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra. With the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, she will direct concertos of Mozart and Chopin from the keyboard.

Claire Huangci began her international career at the age of nine with concert performances and competition successes. After studying with Eleanor Sokoloff and Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she moved to Germany in 2007 for further studies with Arie Vardi at the Hannover Musikhochschule, completing them with honors in 2016. Early in her artistic career, she stood out as an expressive interpreter of Chopin, winning first prizes at the Chopin competitions in Darmstadt and Miami in 2009 and 2010. She was also the youngest participant to receive second prize at the International ARD Music Competition in 2011.

After recording her debut CD with solo works of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev and her prizewinning double album of Scarlatti sonatas (German Record Critics’ Award and Gramophone Editor’s Choice), she released highly acclaimed recordings of Chopin’s Nocturnes in 2017 and in 2018 of Rachmaninoff’s complete Préludes: Following recordings of Beethoven’s violin concerto in the piano version and Fantasy for piano and orchestra by Schubert / Kabalewski with the RSO Vienna, her first orchestral album of Chopin and Paderewski with the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken under Shiyeon Sung was released in Fall 2019. In summer of 2020, her first chamber music album was released with Trio Machiavelli, whose interpretations of Ravel trio and Chausson piano quartet proved „a wholly exhilarating debut (…) splendidly transparent, and always expressive.“ (BR Klassik).

This album contains no booklet.