More wonderfulness from L.V. Beethoven.

And from Brilliant Classics.

And from Yefim Bronfman piano,
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and
David Zinman conductor

Beethoven Piano Concert No. 3 in C Minor Op. 37 is another tour de force for pianist Yefim Bronfman. According to its entry on Wikipedia:

The Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1800 and was first performed on 5 April 1803, with the composer as soloist. The year for which the concerto was composed (1800) has however been questioned by contemporary musicologists. It was published in 1804. During that same performance, the Second Symphony and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also premiered. The composition was dedicated to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. The first primary theme is reminiscent of that of Mozart’s 24th Piano Concerto.

Movement I (“Allegro con brio”) of Op. 37 is an amazing composition. Dynamics up the yin-yang. Loud-soft, loud-soft. Ivory tinkling down to a whisper, and then back up again to pounding crescendo, some of which reminded of the soundtrack to an old-time (silent) movie. When the villain would show up on screen, the piano would play these low-note rumbles that indicated something was afoot. Same here.

Movement II (“Largo”) is precisely the tempo it declares itself to be. It’s about half as fast as the first movement, but very pretty. Lots of dreamy sequences.

Movement III (“Rondo Allegro”) is another wonderful melding of unreal piano playing with exceptional orchestration.

Piano Concert No. 5 in E Flat Op. 73 “Emperor” begins with a crash, a flurry of notes, another crash, and then the orchestra’s melody kicks in.

According to its entry on Wikipedia,

popularly known as the Emperor Concerto, was [Beethoven’s] last piano concerto. It was written between 1809 and 1811 in Vienna, and was dedicated to Archduke Rudolf, Beethoven’s patron and pupil. The first performance took place on 28 November 1811 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the soloist being Friedrich Schneider. In 1812, Carl Czerny, another student of Beethoven’s, gave the Vienna debut of this work.

The epithet of Emperor for this concerto was not Beethoven’s own but was coined by Johann Baptist Cramer, the English publisher of the concerto. Its duration is approximately forty minutes.

Last piano concerto? Oh, no! I was really diggin’ these things!

I wonder what music tomorrow will bring?