Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

In 1819, music publisher and composer Anton Diabelli sent a waltz of his own creation to all the important composers of
the Austrian Empire, asking each of them to write a variation on it. His plan was to publish the variations in a patriotic volume called Vaterlandischer Kunstlerverein and to use the profits to benefit orphans and widows of the Napoleonic Wars. Beethoven chose to write not just a single variation, but a set of thirty-three. His audacious submission, the Diabelli Variations, has since become one of the most revered examples of the genre. On this fascinating disc, pianist Andreas Staier, playing a fortepiano after Conrad Graf, pairs Beethoven s magnum opus with a selection of the other works based upon Diabelli s waltz. Here you can discover the very first stirrings of Liszt s virtuosity (aged eleven), the music of Mozart s son, variations by Kreutzer, Kalkbrenner and even the great Franz Schubert. This fascinating album sheds welcome new light on both the music and the milieu of Beethoven s timeless masterpiece.