Migros-Culture-Percentage-Classics 180°

The B'Rock Orchestra was founded in 2005 by early music specialists in Ghent, Belgium, where it is still based. The name of the ensemble is its programme: The baroque repertoire is at the centre of its activities, but performed with the youthful verve and unconventionality of our time. What does that mean in concrete terms? The orchestra presents rediscoveries such as Philippus van Steelant's Antwerp Requiem, commissions compositions for historical instruments and incorporates dance, theatre, visual and video art into its performances. The B'Rock Orchestra is led by changing conductors and soloists such as René Jacobs, Alexander Melnikov and Kristian Bezuidenhout. In addition, there is a permanent co-operation with the opera houses in Brussels and Rouen as well as with the Ruhrtriennale.

The pianist Alexander Melnikov is one of those artists who, as a person, takes a back seat to the music; airs and graces are alien to him. Trained in Moscow with Lev Naumov, he went on to study with Andreas Staier and thus came into contact with historical performance practice. He has played with the most important European symphony and chamber orchestras; his chamber music partners include Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guilhen Queyras and Jörg Widmann. Melnikov's recordings, including Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues op. 87, have been honoured with numerous awards. And nothing demonstrates his artistic range better than his album "Fantasia": it contains works by seven composers, played on seven different instruments, from the harpsichord to the fortepiano to the modern concert grand piano.

Introduction to the work — excerpts played live, and accompanied by lively, theatrical moderation by Alexander Melnikov
and musicians of the B’Rock Orchestra (approx. 20’)

In his early years in Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven made a name for himself primarily as a pianist and improvisation genius. Compositionally, he still avoided comparison with his role models Haydn and Mozart. This changed in 1801 at the latest with the publication of his C major Piano Concerto, which he had already performed several times as a soloist. It builds on the achievements of Mozart's works, but harmonically points clearly to the future, for example in the A flat major middle movement. And in the finale, with its defiantly rebellious main theme, Beethoven's unmistakable humour breaks through.