Albert-Schweitzer-Ensemble - Anton Reicha: Chamber Works

A full ten months older than Ludwig van Beethoven and a friend since their years together in Bonn, the Bohemian Antonin Reicha is to a certain extent a complementary addition to the revolutionary achievements of the Titan. You can hear at every turn that he also had a pronounced tendency towards experimentation. This is seen mostly in his extremely relaxed treatment of established norms - a minuet where any dancer would immediately and hopelessly falter; variations with extremely contrasting means of expression; harmonic and melodic impudence; an often very subtle way of shifting phrases; and astonishing scoring - these are the characteristics of a man that shook the foundations of Paris and beyond.