Beethoven: Der Glorreiche Augenblick; Choral Fantasia – review

McCawley/City of London Choir/RPO/Davan Wetton(Naxos)Beethoven's cantata Der Glorreiche Augenblick was first performed in 1814, and the "glorious moment" it celebrates was the opening of the Congress of Vienna, the aim of which was to redraw the map of Europe after the Napoleonic wars. The text is messy, and its underlying vision of Hapsburg Austria donning its "imperial mantle" to safeguard European freedom nowadays seems suspect. The score, however, is by no means negligible: there are strong ...

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