Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 And 4

Description

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)Piano Concerto No.3 in C Minor, Opus 37 Piano Concerto No.4 in G Major, Opus 58 In the last month of 1792 Beethoven arrived in Vienna, the city inwhich Mozart had died in straitened circumstances the year before. He came withintroductions to important patrons and with the support of his employer, theArchbishop of Cologne, a son of the old Empress Maria Theresa, having alreadywon considerable praise in Sonn as a pianist. In 1787 Beethoven had come toVienna for lessons with Mozart, but had had to return home on news of hismother's fatal illness. Now he took lessons from Haydn, from the Court ComposerSalieri and from Albrechtsberger, who was to become Kapellmeister at St.Stephen's Cathedral.Beethoven enjoyed great success in these early years in Vienna,welcomed by society, always in search of some novelty. In the closing years ofthe century, however, he experienced the first signs of approaching deafness,the disability that was to isolate him from other men and drive him moreexclusively to composition, as his performance became less and less tolerable.Between the years 1794 and 1809 Beethoven w rote seven concertos, fiveof them for his own principal instrument, the pianoforte, one for violin andone for a solo group of violin, cello and piano. The third concerto for piano,in C minor, was written in 1800, the period of composition of the firstsymphony and the first set of string quartets. The fourth piano concerto,written in part while the composer was at work on his opera Fidelio, was completed in 1806, by whichtime three more symphonies had been composed, as well as the RazumovskyQuartets.The C minor Piano Concerto, which recalls in key and conception, aswell as in its opening theme, the great C minor concerto of Mozart, was firstperformed in Vienna by Beethoven in one of those impossibly long programmeswhich he seemed to favour. In this case the oratorio Christus am Oelberg (Christ on the Mount of Olives) wasgiven, with the first two symphonies, rehearsed by an increasingly disgruntledorchestra from eight o'clock in the morning, until the composer's patron,Prince Karl Lichnowsky, called for a break and provided picnic refreshments.Beethoven's pupil Ferdinand Ries left an account of this first performance ofthe concerto, in 1803, and of his own appearance as soloist in the concertolater in the same year, under Beethoven's nominal direction. It was for Riesthat the solo piano part was first committed to paper. The imposing first movement, with its impressively strong first themeand contrasting subject of calm intensity are announced first by the orchestra,before the entry of the soloist with aversion of the two themes on which themovement is built. The slow movement has one of those themes of protractedbeauty of which Beethoven was a master. The E major theme is introduced firstby the soloist, who opens the final rondo with a principal melody of boldoutline. The movement is broadly conceived and contains striking mom