5 Pno Ctos/Triple Ctos [Box set]

As a young man in Vienna, Beethoven first tried to make his way as a performer with a virtuosic and improvisatory piano technique. With the exception of the "Emperor" Concerto, Beethoven wrote these works to perform himself in order to display his prodigous command of the keyboard.

The first two piano concertos are early works showing Beethoven heavily under the influence of Mozart, the master of the classical piano concerto. The concerto no. 2 in B-flat major, opus 19, was the first of the pair and is one of the earliest of Beethoven's major orchestral compositions. Its early versions probably were composed before Beethoven moved to Vienna, and it was revised repeatedly thereafter. Beethoven completed the work in 1798, and premiered it in Vienna and Prague. It is the most Mozartean of Beethoven's compositions, and Beethoven in later years expressed some dissatisfaction with it. It will still delight the listener.

The first concerto, in C major, opus 15 has substantially more snap and drama than the earlier concerto. It also features a highly difficult and virtuosic cadenza that Beethoven composed for this score at a later time. Beethoven completed this concerto in 1800. It features a song-like, trilling slow movement, a march-like opening movement, and a virtuosic rondo finale.

Over the years, Beethoven's third piano concerto in c-minor, opus 37 has grown the most on me. This work is modeled on Mozart's c-minor piano concerto, but it represents a distinct break from the first and second concertos. The work stands literally on the edge between Beethoven's first and second periods of composition. The work begins with a long, dark orchestral introduction. The piano writing is virtuosic and by turns angry and dramatic and lyrical. The second movement of the concerto is in a major key remote from c minor. It is intense and lyrical featuring a flowing theme in the cellos together with the piano. The third movement is a skipping dance which breaks into an exultant presto at the end. This work has some rough edges when compared to Mozart's but it is an undoubted masterpiece in its own right. Beethoven first performed this concerto in 1803 at a concert which also included the Second Symphony and the oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives.

The fourth concerto in G major, opus 58, represents a distinct stylistic break. The work opens with a short, meditative statement of the theme in the solo piano, followed by the orchestral exposition which opens in a remote key. The work is mostly quiet and lyrical and features great interplay between the piano and the orchestra. This is highlighted in the slow movement which consists of a dialogue between a brusque orchestra and a pleading soloist -- with the two never playing together. The work was completed in 1805, and Beethoven performed it in 1808.

Beethoven's final piano concerto, which has become almost the prototype of the piano concerto, is the famous "Emperor" in E-flat major opus 73. This work, together with Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony also in E-flat major virtually define Beethoven's "heroic" period for many listeners. This is a flamboyant work which opens with crashing chords and brilliant piano arpeggios a and includes crashing chords and difficult double octaves in its development section. The work also unites the solo part with the orchestra to make the work one of large, symphonic proportions. There are some modern listeners who feel uncomfortable with music of this sweep and grandeur. In his recent book "Beethoven: the Music and the Life" (2003), Lewis Lockwood commented on this tendency (page 251):

"To [t]his pessimism there is no final response except that provided by listeners and musicians who seem to arise in every new generation and regard works such as the Eroica and the 'Emperor' Concerto as among their most significan personal experiences. Listeners accept them not as antiquated expressions of a political idealism that has been cruelly banished by history, but as evocations of the human possibilities that might be realized in a better world."

This collection also included Beethoven's "Triple" concerto in C major for piano, violing, and cello, opus 56 performed by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Istomin, piano, Issac Stern, violin, and Leonard Rose, cello. The cello has the largest solo role in this work and is highly difficult to play. The piano solo was composed for a musical amateur. The Triple Concerto has had its critics over the years. I enjoy it. The music is laid-back and diffuse and does not show the same level of inspiration as do the piano concertos.

This box set is the ideal way to get to know, or to revisit, Beethoven's piano concertos. The new listener will cherish these works over the years. This disk will encourage the listeners to explore and love this music and related art music.