Ludwig van Beethoven - Beethoven Extended. Symphony No. 5 (Laurence Equilbey)

Information

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

• Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (Arr. for Double Orchestra by Laurence Equilbey)

Insula Orchestra

Insula Camerata

Laurence Equilbey, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: harmonia mundi

_____________________

By uniting the full forces of the Insula orchestra and Insula camerata, Laurence Equilbey revives the historic tradition of the double orchestra, recreating the monumental sonorities associated with major nineteenth-century festivals. Beethoven, well acquainted with this practice, often composed for large-scale events where ensembles could exceed a hundred musicians, harnessing expanded orchestral resources to achieve striking power and grandeur. This project restores that original sense of scale and spatial richness, offering listeners a vivid impression of the composer’s ambitions for massed forces. The result is a distinctive and immersive musical experience, now captured and made widely available on CD.

Laurence Equilbey (born 6 March 1962) is a French conductor whose career bridges choral, symphonic, and innovative multimedia projects. After early studies in musicology and training in Vienna with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, as well as work with Claudio Abbado and other leading pedagogues, she founded the chamber choir Accentus in 1991 and later the Jeune Chœur de Paris. In 2012, she established the Insula Orchestra, dedicated in part to historically informed performance and the rediscovery of composers such as Louise Farrenc. Named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 2008, Equilbey is also recognized for interdisciplinary collaborations and for inventing the “e-tuner,” designed for microtonal tuning.

High Resolution 24-bit / 96 kHz