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In this exclusive interview for ABC Classics, Gerard Willems sits down with his producer Brendand Ward to discuss the making of the remarkable 'Beethoven-Willems Collection'.

Buy now: http://abcmusic.com.au/discography/beethoven-willems-collection

ABC Classics presents The Beethoven-Willems Collection, an authoritative collection that provides an insight into the creative genius of one of history's greatest composers, Ludwig van Beethoven.

This 15-disc boxed set is also a special testament to the legacy of one of Beethoven's greatest exponents -- Gerard Willems. Willems began recording Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in 1997 and completed his historic mission in 2000, becoming the first Australian to do so. The CDs won two ARIA Awards. For an encore, Gerard recorded Beethoven's five piano concertos in 2002-03. The Diabelli Variations followed in 2010.

Re-releasing the original recordings of the sonatas in chronological order -- including the additional four -- allows us to track Beethoven's musical development with ease.

For piano aficionados, it offers another opportunity to hear the unique sound of Australia's magnificent Stuart piano. Six instruments were used over the life of the Beethoven recording project, three for the 32 sonatas. Remastering adds vibrancy to the Stuart sound while remaining true to each piano's distinctive characteristics. They have never sounded so good.

Unprecedented in its scope, this boxed set includes 14CDs and a bonus DVD. The Beethoven-Willems Collection features all of Willems' Beethoven recordings, including the Piano Concertos, the Diabelli Variations, Für Elise and the C-minor Variations, plus brand new recordings of the three 'Electoral' sonatas -- products of Beethoven's teen years that reveal how early his astonishing talent began to manifest itself -- and the Fantasia Sonata in D major, reconstructed by Dutch musicologist Cees Nieuwenhuizen from over 1000 bars of sketches.

The Beethoven Obsession: The Beethoven Obsession tells the story of how the greatest piano music ever written acquired a unique Australian voice, played on a revolutionary grand piano that shook up the conservative music establishment.

It is a fast-paced drama of frustration, envy, rivalry, struggle and success, starring a self-taught child prodigy who sold condoms and contraband to advance his studies; a fanatical inventor who took apart pianos as a child to examine their 'gizzards'; and a TV cameraman who became a music entrepreneur to translate the music he loved into an Australian first.

Their unorthodox, historic odyssey created multi-award-winning, best-selling albums and changed their lives forever.

Buy Now: https://shop.abc.net.au/products/beethoven-obsession-the-pbk