Na na na NAAAAH. Happy birthday to Beethoven. I'm going to take this opportunity to highlight a bunch of interesting performances and publications that I have heard, reviewed, or collaborated upon in the last few years. 1/x

First is the awesome Van Baerle Trio, which in the last years has recorded all of the piano trios including the trio concerto. Listen to their recent Concertgebouw version of the 'Ghost' trio op. 70 no. 1 here: 2/x

And then rush to their webshop to buy the full set, which is played on one of Christ Maene's straight strung grand pianos. https://www.vanbaerletrio.com/cds/ludwig-van-beethoven-box/ And has liner notes by yours truly. 3/x

Next are two publications really worth having a look at, and that really have stuff to add to the already substantial Beethoven literature. The first is @LTunbridge 's Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces (available at a book shop near you, probably translated into your language) 4/x

The second is Theodore Albrecht's edition of Beethoven's conversation books. This edition, about which I was very sceptical at first but which completely won me over, contains so much contextual information that it almost feels like you are there with him drinking coffee. 5/x

More details on the conversation books in my review here: https://www.academia.edu/43235551/Review_of_Beethovens_Conversation_Books_vol_1_and_2_ed_Theodore_Albrecht, more on Laura Tunbridge's book in this really interesting book talk with @ericabuurman : 6/x

One of the stranger things I got to review was this recording of Beethoven's 9th by @philharmonia conducted by @BenjaminZander. My review and a link to the recording (as well as Zander's lengthy discussion) can be found here: https://www.academia.edu/43197550/Why_do_we_need_another_recording_of_Beethovens_Ninth_Symphony 7/x

Zander's interpretation may not be for everyone, but there simply are a few bits that I thought were very inspiring, particularly the entry into the Turkish march of the last movement. 8/x