This Is (Not) Beethoven

This is (Not) Beethoven may be billed as Beethoven reinvented for modern ears, but that’s far from all there is to it. Beginning with an exquisite reworking of the “Moonlight Sonata” for piano and orchestra, This Is (Not) Beethoven takes us on a freewheeling journey through some of the composer’s greatest works. The mighty fugue from the “Hammerklavier” piano sonata forms the foundation for a cascading fantasy for piano and orchestra, Beethoven’s harmonies and motifs acting as a springboard for arranger Arash Safaian’s staggering musical imagination. And at the centre of the album is a set of variations on the transcendental Allegretto from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, its theme mutated, transformed and recast in ways that continually surprise and delight.