The custom of marking the name-day of Princess Esterházy with a newly composed Mass began in the 1790s and for many years was carried out by Joseph Haydn. In 1807 Beethoven was commissioned and responded with his Mass in C major. Coolly received at court, it is a celebratory work of large-scale brilliance. The cantata Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt is set to Goethe’s poems and contrasts calm with exuberance. In 1803 Beethoven set two numbers from Vestas Feuer, written by Emanuel Schikaneder, the librettist of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
Listen to an excerpt from
Mass in C major, Op. 86: III. Credo
Leif Segerstam conducts
BEETHOVEN'S MASS IN C MAJOR
About the Series
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The series The Music of Brazil is part of the project Brasil em Concerto, developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to promote music by Brazilian composers dating back to the 18th century. Around 100 orchestral works from the 19th and 20th centuries will be recorded by the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Further recordings of chamber and vocal music will gradually be added to this collection.
Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra
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São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
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Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra
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The works were selected according to their historical importance for Brazilian music and the existence of recordings. Most of the works recorded for the series have never had recordings available outside Brazil; many others will have their world premiere recordings. An important part of the project is the preparation of new or even first editions of the works to be recorded, many of which, despite their relevance, have only been available in the composer’s manuscript. This work will be carried out by the Brazilian Academy of Music and by musicologists working together with the orchestras.
Artists
Kaisa Ranta
Kaisa Ranta, Soprano
Soprano Kaisa Ranta gained national recognition after winning First Prize in one of Finland’s most prestigious competitions, the Lappeenranta National Song Contest. She made her opera debut as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, and in 2006 made her debut at the Finnish National Opera in the title role of Zaide. A versatile singer, she has subsequently performed regularly at the Finnish National Opera in various productions. Her wide repertoire also includes a variety of sacred music and contemporary works.
Niina Keitel
Niina Keitel, Mezzo-soprano
Finnish mezzo-soprano Niina Keitel’s repertoire spans opera, concert and Lied, and she has appeared at the Opéra national de Paris, Oper Frankfurt and Savonlinna Opera Festival, and in summer 2015 she toured Japan. Keitel has performed with symphony orchestras across Europe, and has worked with eminent conductors such as Philippe Jordan and Leif Segerstam.
Topi Lehtipuu
Topi Lehtipuu, Tenor
A tenor of international renown, Finnish tenor Topi Lehtipuu is also an artistic consultant and curator. As a singer, Lehtipuu has appeared in concert halls and opera houses throughout the world. He is equally renowned for repertoire ranging from early music to contemporary works and enjoys close working relationships with the world’s leading conductors and directors. Recent highlights include the creation of the role of The Creature in Mark Gray’s Frankenstein, and participation in a new multi-disciplinary dance/vocal project featuring the music of Monteverdi, Third Practice.
Tuomas Katajala
Tuomas Katajala, Tenor
Tuomas Katajala is one of the most versatile and sought-after Scandinavian tenors, and has achieved notable success both as a concert and an opera singer. His concert and oratorio repertoire includes key works by J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Bruckner and Mahler. He is a welcome guest at renowned institutions and festivals worldwide, and has worked with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kent Nagano, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Mikko Franck.
Nicholas Söderlund
Nicholas Söderlund, Bass
Bass Nicholas Söderlund was awarded Second Prize at both the 2006 Lappeenranta Singing Competition and the 2007 International Sibelius Singing Competition. He has appeared as a soloist with many Finnish orchestras, and performed across Europe. He made his professional opera debut at the Finnish National Opera in 2007, and during 2008–09 performed with the Basel Opera in Switzerland. An active performer of contemporary Finnish music, he has premiered works by Olli Kortekangas, Jouni Kaipainen and Pasi Lyytikäinen.
Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis
The Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis
Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis (CCA) has specialised in large-scale choral works – often in cooperation with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra – since the choir’s inception in 1982. Virtually the entire canon of works for choir and orchestra are in the CCA’s repertoire: it has performed requiems by Verdi, Mozart, Fand Pärt, as well as Bach’s Passions and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. The CCA has also expanded its repertoire to include opera, performing in the world premiere of Müller-Berghaus’s Die Kalewainen in Pochjola in 2017, and in Wagner’s Parsifal for the Turku Music Festival in 2018.
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
As the oldest orchestra in Finland, the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra continues to develop and flourish under the baton of renowned conductors. From 2012 to 2019, the orchestra’s 74 musicians have been under the artistic leadership of Leif Segerstam. Several of the Turku Philharmonic’s recordings have been awarded platinum discs and other prizes. In 2019 the orchestra won the International Classical Music Award for Best Collection with their recording of Jean Sibelius’ Incidental Music (8.506032). In 2009 the orchestra was awarded the EMMA Classical Album of the Year for the recording Transient Moods.
Leif Segerstam
Leif Segerstam
is chief conductor emeritus of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and holds honorary titles with the Malmö Opera, the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. He has conducted most of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and was one of the most important ambassadors for Sibelius’ 2015 anniversary year. His many recordings have been critically acclaimed and feature works by contemporary composers as well as the complete symphonies of Mahler, Sibelius and Nielsen among many others. Segerstam is a voracious composer, notably developing a free-pulsative style in Rosenkranz form for his later symphonies which are performed without conductor.
Previous releases in Leif Segerstam’s
Beethoven Orchestral Works series
8.574077
8.574076
8.574042
8.573882
‘An exciting compilation…
For those who regret that Beethoven only wrote one opera (Fidelio), this [disc] is a must.’
– NDR Kultur (NDR.de)
8.573956
‘Nice performances so there is a good deal all around. Kudos!’
– Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review
![BEETHOVEN, L. van: Geschöpfe des Prometheus (Die) [Ballet]](https://www.naxos.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.573853.jpg "BEETHOVEN, L. van: Geschöpfe des Prometheus (Die) [Ballet]")
8.573853
‘Sensitive, well-paced performance by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra under Leif Segerstam’
– Infodad.com
★★★★
8.573852
‘Sensational music, brilliantly performed.’
– Ludwig van Toronto
★★★★★
For the full list of Leif Segerstam’s discography on Naxos, please visit www.naxos.com/conductorinfo/Leif_Segerstam/31854.htm.
The Complete and Authoritative
Beethoven Edition
Key Features:
- 90-DISC box, featuring over 1,550 individual tracks, a detailed 136-page booklet and bonus of two free album downloads.
- Accompanied by an authoritative and compelling note, the repertoire included spans Beethoven’s orchestral, concerto, keyboard, chamber, music for the stage, choral and vocal works. Encompassing his most familiar and iconic pieces as well as only recently discovered rarities, it is a truly thorough and exhaustive compendium of a complex genius.
- The track list features a host of fragments, sketches, drafts, arrangements, transcriptions and reconstructions – some of which have never before been recorded – that reveal a very intimate, personal insight into the inner workings of Beethoven as a composer.
- Bonus: Free downloads – purchasers of the box may download two albums from Liszt’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies and songs. Coupon code with details included in the box.
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