Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: The Complete Piano Concertos (2017) DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: The Complete Piano Concertos (2017)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time – 169:59 minutes | 3,76 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 169:59 minutes | 3,21 GB
Source: SACD-R, Challenge Classics # CC 72763 | Artwork: Digital Booklet(s)

Here is the box containing Beethoven’s five Piano Concertos performed by Hannes Minnaar and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend. So far two single volumes had been issued: while the one including Concertos nos. 4 & 5 was acclaimed by Gramophone as: “beginning a Beethoven cycle with the Fourth and Fifth Concertos is a bold move but one that pays off in all sorts of ways”, the same magazine welcomed the disc with Concertos nos. 1 & 2 for “its pleasing mix of finesse and drive”. Now the box also offers the so far unissued Concerto #3. Despite the very large number of recordings already made of this musical corpus, Minnaar and de Vriend have proved that they have something new and totally their own to say about this collection of masterpieces. And it is indeed the peculiar blend of sheer energy and esprit de finesse that can be identified as the distinctive brand or these recordings.

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Isabelle van Keulen and Hannes Minnaar – Beethoven: Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin (2014) MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Isabelle van Keulen and Hannes Minnaar – Beethoven: Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin (2014)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 222:09 minutes | Basic Scans | 11,4 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Basic Scans incl. | 4,17 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | Challenge Classics # CC 72650

This four-disc hybrid SACD set presents the complete works for piano and violin of Ludwig van Beethoven. The performers are the critically-acclaimed Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keuelen and the talented young compatriot, pianist Hannes Minnaar. This is very enjoyable performances and recording by two outstanding young artists.

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Hannes Minnaar – Goldberg Variations (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Hannes Minnaar – Goldberg Variations (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:37:38 minutes | 769 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Classics

Critically acclaimed pianist Hannes Minnaar presents a new account of the Goldberg Variations, a rendition which sums up all the features of a ‘contemporary’ interpretation. A bonus CD with works by Daan Manneke is included.

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Hannes Minnaar – 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Hannes Minnaar – 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 02:30:28 minutes | 1,11 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Classics

After Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which won him worldwide honours (including a “Diapason d’Or”), Hannes Minnaar challenges and confronts what has become a “classic” of the 20th century repertoire: Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues, composed in 1951. Here again, the qualities of his pianism, for which he is recognised as one of the leading musicians of our time, come under the spotlight: the diversity of touch and the suppleness between tension and tranquillity to characterise every Prelude and Fugue, the precision of tone, the lack of any affectation, a natural finesse in phrasing and articulation, and a familiarity with the score going hand in hand with a freshness that conjures a sense of improvisation. Here we encounter a new landmark in the crowded field of interpretations of this wonderful music.

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Hannes Minnaar – Faure: Piano Music (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/352,8kHz]

Hannes Minnaar – Faure: Piano Music (2016)
Digital eXtreme Definition FLAC Stereo (tracks) 24-bit/352,8 kHz | Time – 01:16:14 minutes | 3,72 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: spiritofturtle.com | Booklet, Front Cover | © Challenge Records

Thirteen Nocturnes and as many Barcarolles form the core of the collected output of Gabriel Urbain Faur (1845-1924) for the piano. Night-time meditations, then, along with inspiration drawn from rippling water (the origins of the barcarolle lie in the songs sung by Venetian gondoliers and the word itself comes from the Italian ‘barca’, a boat). Along with some Impromptus, Prludes andother works, one might rapidly gain the impression of a delightful collection of salon music, whose titles may actually display the influence of Chopin (Faur was even to write a Mazurka). But this music is so very much more than pretty salon music. In the intimacy of these genres, Faur succeeded time and again in nothing short of exposing his very soul. And the French composer’s style is entirely his own — original and personal — from the first note to the last. (more…)

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Hannes Minnaar, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 (2017) [DSF DSD128 + Hi-Res FLAC]

Hannes Minnaar, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 (2017)
DSF Stereo DSD128/5.64 MHz | Time – 00:34:38 minutes | 2,73 GB
Digital eXtreme Definition FLAC Surround 5.1 (tracks) 24-bit/352,8 kHz | Time – 00:34:38 minutes | 4,26 GB
Digital eXtreme Definition FLAC Stereo (tracks) 24-bit/352,8 kHz | Time – 05:40:43 minutes | 1,74 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: spiritofturtle.com | Booklet, Front Cover | © Challenge Records / Northstar Recordings

The missing link. Hannes Minnaar’s release of the beginning and end phases (numbers 1 & 2 and 4 & 5 respectively) of Beethoven’s piano concertos is now ‘followed’ by No. 3. It forms a link in another sense as well. The first concertos: replete with youth, sparkling, often even rambunctious; the last two both more mature and more heroic. And Piano Concerto No. 3 then? In part still building on his youth (Beethoven was around 30 when he wrote it), this is the first one where we hear heroism. Might has become the central theme.

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Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 – Complete Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/352.8kHz]

Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend - Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 - Complete Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/352.8kHz] Download

Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 – Complete Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/352.8 kHz | Time – 01:10:17 minutes | 3,36 GB | Genre:
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | ©

Beethoven wrote five concertos for piano and orchestra. It doesn’t sound like much; his near-contemporary Mozart composed 27. But although it may be a bit smaller, Beethoven’s contribution is a true monument in the history of music. He used the first two concertos to move away from his example, Mozart (whose last piano concerto was from 1791, while Beethoven completed his first in 1795); in Concerto no. 3 Beethoven carved out new dimensions for the genre’s dramatic possibilities. And Concertos nos 4 and 5 have proved to be unmatched in their genre: the radiant Concerto no. 4 is worshipped by experts and aficionados alike, while no. 5 is the all-time favourite of the public at large. Almost 25 years passed between Beethoven’s first sketches for a piano concerto and the double line he drew under his last one. His piano concertos thus show a development covering more than half of the composer’s life.
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Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 – Complete Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/352.8kHz]

Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend - Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Complete Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/352.8kHz] Download

Hannes Minnaar, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 – Complete Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/352.8 kHz | Time – 01:04:57 minutes | 3,11 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Challenge Classics

Before we listen to the young Dutch pianist Hannes Minnaar play Beethoven’s first two piano concertos, it is perhaps interesting to see how another young pianist may have played them once, long ago — a German who lived in Vienna, a headstrong and temperamental genius. His name? Ludwig van Beethoven. His pupil, the famous composer of etudes and sensitive observer Carl Czerny, once described his playing: “[…] characterised by passionate strength, alternated with all the charm of a smooth cantabile. The expressiveness is often intensified to extremes, particularly when the music tends towards humour […] Passages become extremely daring by use of the pedal […] His playing does not possess that clean and brilliant elegance of certain other pianists. On the other hand, it was spirited, grand and, especially in the adagio, filled with emotion
and romanticism.”

Strength. Smoothness. Humour. Focus on these aspects and you will come close to Beethoven. Minnaar, De Vriend and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra play the concertos in reverse order: first 2, then 1. A bit odd. Or isn’t it? Artistically, it is highly defensible: introduced as it were by the more balanced, more modest Piano Concerto no. 2, no. 1 radiates all the more festiveness (trumpets, clarinets and tympani have come to join the orchestra). Perhaps the lovely, gentle, almost feminine B flat major of Concerto no. 2 would not have been able to hold its own after the male and martial C major. But there is something else
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Hannes Minnaar – Rachmaninoff & Ravel: Piano Works (2011) [Official Digital Download DSF DSD64/2.82MHz + FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz]

Hannes Minnaar – Rachmaninoff & Ravel: Piano Sonata No.1 & Sonatine and Miroirs (2011)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time – 78:57 minutes | 3,11 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 78:57 min | 1,35 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital booklet

The sensational young Dutch pianist Hannes Minnaar, international prize-winner and recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust fellowship but not yet known here, displays his extravagant gifts in this debut disc of Rachmaninov’s weighty Sonata No 1 and Ravel’s Sonatine and Miroirs. His virtuosity needs no comments. His musical intelligence, sense of line and structure, delicacy, subtlety of texture and discipline set him apart. His Ravel is muscular and sparkling, his Rachmaninov glowing, meticulous and fervent. He is also a chamber musician, having played with the likes of Mischa Maisky and Janine Jansen as well as his own recently established Van Baerle Trio. Watch out for him.

Tracklist:

01 – Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata No.1 in D minor, Op.28 – I. Allegro moderato
02 – Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata No.1 in D minor, Op.28 – II. Lento
03 – Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata No.1 in D minor, Op.28 – III. Allegro molto
04 – Ravel: Sonatine – Modéré
05 – Ravel: Sonatine – Mouvement de menuet
06 – Ravel: Sonatine – Animé
07 – Ravel: Sonatine – Noctuelles
08 – Ravel: Miroirs – Oiseaux tristes
09 – Ravel: Miroirs – Une barque sur l’océan
10 – Ravel: Miroirs – Alborada del gracioso
11 – Ravel: Miroirs – La vallée des cloches

Produced, Engineered, Edited & Mastered by Tom Peeters.

DSF DSD64

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FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz

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Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 1 / Maurice Ravel: Sonatine & Miroirs – Hannes Minnaar (2011) [Official Digital Download DSF DSD64/2.82MHz]

Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 1 / Maurice Ravel: Sonatine & Miroirs – Hannes Minnaar (2011)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:06:17 minutes | 3,11 GB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: nativeDSDmusic | Digital Booklet |  © Etcetera Records
Recorded: Westvest, Schiedam, NL, June 2011

Only a few works for piano, notably the Menuet antique (1895), his first composition for piano, the Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899) and Jeux d’eau (1902) preceded Miroirs (1905), the suite in five movements composed when Ravel was thirty years old, although he was also working on his unsurpassed Sonatine at the same time. Unlike Rachmaninoff, Ravel did not prepare himself for his larger and more complete piano works with a series of miniatures or Moments musicaux; Ravel’s music was fully formed from the beginning, although he had nonetheless made use of forms used by earlier composers in the Menuet antique and the Sonatine as well as in the Liszt-inspired Jeux d’eau. He shook himself free of classicism in Miroirs, seeing in them the possibility of developing a style of composition for piano from a primarily harmonic viewpoint. He said that he had composed Miroirs in order to break away from his Jeux d’eau, writing later in 1928 that “Miroirs was a collection of piano pieces that marked such a pronounced change in my harmonic development that it bewildered all of the musicians who until then had dan no difficulties with my style whatsover”.

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