LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827): The Consecration of the House, Hess 118.

Description: Carl Meisl's play The Consecration of the House, to the music of Beethoven, was performed in Vienna on October 3, 1822 on the occasion of the reopening of the Theater in der Josefstadt. Its theme is the reawakening of art after times of crisis. In preparing the present recording, there arose the difficulty that thus far, no complete edition had been available for The Consecration of the House. As a result, it was necessary to put together a new score and new performance material on the basis of the extant sources. The result is that we now have The Consecration of the House for the first time in a single cohesive form and, with a probability bordering on certainty, the way the work was performed in 1822. Beethoven's music to August von Kotzebue's text The Ruins of Athens (1812) served as the basis for the work, and was adapted to Meisl’s text as well as expanded to include new music by the composer. Beethoven seems to have started composing for the upcoming performance only in September 1822, writing new music for those of Meisl’s texts for which nothing suitable could be found in The Ruins of Athens. The dance with chorus “Wo sich die Pulse jugendlich jagen” is listed separately as WoO 98, as is the March, op. 114, which was reworked for the play. German-English texts. Evelin Novak (soprano), Klaus Mertens (bass), Berlin Vocal Consort, Saxon Chamber Choir, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra; Fabian Enders.