Martin Sturm - Von der Schönheit des Scheiterns - Ludwig van Beethoven zum 250. Geburtstag (2020) [Hi-Res]

With this recording of his organ arrangement of the Grosse Fuge in B-flat major, op. 133, Martin Sturm presents a fascinating and exciting contribution to the 2020 Beethoven Jubilee. His performance on the Klais organ at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, built in 2016, gives unparalleled sonic and spatial depth to what is probably the most complex work from Beethoven’s late period. Embedded in an extraordinary program alongside an arrangement of Beethoven’s Piano Fantasy in G minor/B major, op. 77, and improvisations on themes by Joseph Haydn and Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Sturm’s reading of the Grosse Fuge conveys in exemplary fashion the great emotionality and explosive force of Beethoven’s music and the organ as an instrument. His grand improvisation “Freude, schöner Götterfunken” (’Joy, beautiful spark of divinity‘): Variations and Double Fugue on the Final Movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, op. 125, again reveals the wealth of colors available on the organ in Iowa City, patterned after the historic Ladegast organ in Schwerin Cathedral. It also reveals the enormous artistic potential of Martin Sturm, an internationally acclaimed prize-winning musician.

Martin Sturm, organ