Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Beethoven’s five piano concertos were written between 1793 and 1809. The first two concertos, moving beyond chamber works to concert stage, were quite experimental, intending to fill the palpable void in Vienna for this genre of composition left by the death of Mozart in 1791.

By the third concerto in C minor, Beethoven was fully the master of the form. Beethoven also personally premiered each concerto (with the exception of the 5th by which time his loss of hearing had become acute) composing the cadenzas for each one himself, making the case for his preeminent virtuosity as a pianist. 

Here is Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15, with Fabio Luisi conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden and pianist Margarita Höhenrieder.

https://youtu.be/C28Ms9h7cVc

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (Margarita Höhenrieder)

Fabio Luisi conducts Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (Margarita Höhenrieder)