Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas performed on a Broadwood pianoforte (1806) Anders Muskens

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”:
• 1 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”: I. Allegro con brio 10:50
• 2 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”: II. Introduzione: Adagio molto 02:57
• 3 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”: III. Rondo. Allegretto moderato — Prestissimo 10:43
• Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”:
• 4 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”: I. Allegro assai 10:54
• 5 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”: II. Andante con moto 06:29
• 6 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”: III. Allegro ma non troppo – Presto 08:28
• Total Runtime 50:21

Info for Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas performed on a Broadwood pianoforte (1806)

Anders Muskens, fortepianist, presents piano sonatas by Beethoven on an original historical pianoforte from Beethoven’s time, built by John Broadwood & Sons in London circa 1806. This instrument is built in the English tradition of the late 18th and early 19th century, and its design is significantly different from those used in modern pianos by Steinway, Fazioli, Yamaha, and others. The Broadwood was restored in Amsterdam by Paul Kobald during 2022. The recording is presented with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Why play this music on a historical instrument rather than a modern piano? I personally believe what makes Beethoven's music very special is its rawness: the manic excitement, the tumult, the struggle, the frustration, but also the boldness – the bravery, and the heroic! Beethoven is not innocuous – it needs to provoke, to challenge our notions of what we think classical music is and what it can achieve. These wonderful historical instruments, when working, can produce that rawness and vitality that Beethoven must have strived for, in a way that no modern instrument seems to manage to achieve convincingly, and I hope that these qualities will be apparent on the Broadwood, bearing in mind that it is a 200 year old instrument!

Anders Muskens, fortepiano

Anders Muskens
is a Canadian early keyboard specialist, music scholar, and ensemble director, active as an international artist in North America and Europe. He began piano studies at the age of 4 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and completed an Associate Diploma (ARCT) in modern piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (CA) under the tutelage of Dr. Irina Konovalov. With support from the Alberta Arts Graduate Scholarship (CA), the Edmonton Community Foundation (CA) and the Adriana Jacoba Fonds (NL), he completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is currently completing a doctorate in musicology at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Matthew Gardner, Prof. Dr. Thomas Schipperges, and Dr. Jed Wentz (Leiden University), where he researches rhetorical acting and early modern theatre practices in relation to musical performance. For this research, he has received Landesgraduiertenförderung (State Graduate Promotion) from the state of Baden-Württemberg (DE), the Sir James Lougheed Award of Distinction from the Province of Alberta (CA), as well as a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

As the founder and director of the period orchestra Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, he has distinguished himself as a specialist in reviving the forgotten music of the Mannheim Court Orchestra (die Mannheimer Hofkapelle) which originally existed during 1742–78 in Mannheim and later moved to Munich after 1778. The ensemble received the „Hofkapelle Elbe-Elster“ für das Jahr 2019 prize at the „Gebrüder Graun Preis“ 2018 in Bad Liebenwerda, (DE), and has been supported in concertizing and recording by numerous grants from the Adriana Jacoba Fonds (NL), the Canada Council for the Arts (CA), the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (CA), Sena (NL), the Canada Council for the Arts (CA), the Norma Fonds (NL), the Fonds Podiumkunsten (NL), and various municipal funds in the Netherlands and Germany. In April 2022, the ensemble performed at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele in Schwetzingen (DE) in collaboration with soprano, Elisabeth Hetherington, performing symphonies, concerti, and opera arias from Mannheim c. 1750–80. The concert was later broadcast on the German radio station SWR2, and Dutch NPO4. The ensemble has produced numerous recordings, which are released under the labels Etcetera Records and Naxos via Leaf Music.

He received numerous awards and scholarships, including first place at the Early Music Young Ensemble Competition at the London Exhibition of Early Music 2018 (UK) followed by several broadcasts on the BBC Radio 3 Early Music Show. He is a previous recipient of an instrument on loan from the Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds (NL); namely, a c. 1815 Dulcken replica fortepiano. He was chosen as an Artist in Residence at the National Music Centre in Calgary (CA), was selected as an artist for Alberta Spotlight in 2020 (CA) and did an ensemble residency at Schloss Weißenbrunn (DE). He has played solo programs at Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (NL), the Utrecht Early Music Festival (NL), the TonArt festival in Wolfenbüttel (DE), “I Concerti di Campagna” series in Monte Compatri (IT), the 2022 Canadian Society for Eighteenth Century Studies Conference at the University of Ottawa (CA), the Tartini Symposium at the University of Alberta in Edmonton (CA), the Bach Network Dialogue Meeting in Cambridge (UK), and will play concerts at the Salle bourgie in Montreal (CA) and Early Music Vancouver (CA). With various ensembles, he has performed at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele (DE), the MouseEar concert series (NL), the Kasteelconcerten series (NL), the London International Exhibition of Early Music (UK), the MAfestival Brugge (BE), the Laus Polyphoniae Festival Antwerp (BE), the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam (NL), Barbara Maria Willi’s early music concert series in Brno (CZ), the Geelvinck Fortepiano Museum (NL), and the Wahrenbrücker Graun-Festtage (DE).

He has released numerous albums of solo and ensemble music. Furthermore, he has performed concerts for the streaming platform EMTV (Early Music Television, produced by the Stichting Organisatie Oude Muziek NL), and also on the TV programme Podium Witteman (NL). Various performances have been featured on various radio stations, including SWR2 (DE), the BBC Radio 3 Early Music Show (UK), Radiotelevisione Italiana Radio 3 (IT), Concertzender (NL), CBC Radio 2 (CA), and NPO4 (NL).

This album contains no booklet.