DE 3027 0 13491 30272 0 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (35:20) 1. Allegro moderato (19.46) 2. Andante con moto (9:58) 3. Rondo: Vivace (9:50) Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (34:32) 4. Allegro con brio (7:50) 5. Andante con moto (9:58) 6. Allegro (5:23) 7. Allegro (11 :07 Total playing time: 70:02 Carol Rosenberger, piano Gerard Schwarz, conductor London Symphony Orchestra 2 Beethoven’s first three piano concertos toir in Vienna as Op, 58, with a dedication can be placed firmly within his “first -pe to Beethoven’s staunch friend, patron, and riod.” His two other works in this medi- pupil, Archduke Rudolph of Austria. um (in G, Op, 58, and in E flat, Op. 73) are separated from them both in point of After completing his Third Concerto (in time and, even more, in point of artistic C minor, Op. 37), Beethoven must have maturity, falling just as unequivocally into been conscious that he had not quite his “second period.” The Concerto No. 4 achieved that perfect balance between in G Major was written during some of soloist and orchestra that distinguishes the most active years of Beethoven’s cre- all but the very earliest of Mozart’s con- ative life, which saw the composition of certos, and it was in the Fourth Concerto the “Appassionata” Sonata, the second that he decided for the first time to let version of his opera Fidelio, the three Ra- the orchestra give pride of place to the zumovsky quartets, the Fourth Sympho- solo instrument, allowing the piano to ny and the Violin Concerto. He probably open the work by itself — following, started work on it in 1805 and completed and surpassing, the precedent set by it towards the end of the following year Mozart in 1777 in his Concerto in E (he offered it to the Leipzig publishers flat, K. 271. This solo takes the form Breitkopf & Härtel on July 5,1806, but it not of a grandiose flourish — though may not have been quite finished at the that was to come three years later in time). It was performed in March, 1807 at the ‘Emperor’ — but of a serene lit- a subscription concert in Prince Lobkow- tle passage that sets the mood for the itz’s palace in Vienna, at which the Fourth whole movement. When the orchestra Symphony and the Overture Coriolan takes up this theme, with its character- were also heard for the first time. Beetho- istic repeated notes, it is in the remote ven was himself the soloist. The concerto key of B major. With one exception, was published (in parts only) in August the other themes remain, primarily, 1808 by the Kunst-und lndustrie-Comp- the property of the orchestra. One is 3 the haunting second subject, a strid- Beethoven. It takes the form of a di- ing theme with an accompaniment of alogue between the orchestral strings reiterated triplets in the inner parts and the piano, and the nature of the and a pizzicato bass that imitates the dialogue — the orchestra at first stern rhythm of the theme itself; another is and imperious, the piano gentle and the shorter but no less beautiful mel- pleading — explains why Schumann ody played by the strings immediately took it to be a picture of Orpheus after the soloist’s first main entry. It is taming the wild animals with his in the course of this passage that the music. Beethoven was, as often in piano introduces (in B flat) the other his later piano sonatas, very precise subsidiary theme, espressivo, and sep- about the movement’s dynamic shad- arated from its accompaniment by al- ing. He specified that theuna corda most the entire width of the keyboard. pedal should be applied to the piano But it is the first theme that shapes the throughout (except for half a dozen music (especially that of the finely bars just before the end), and on the wrought development section), and instrument of his day this had a par- many of the piano’s entries resemble a ticularly delicate and beautiful effect, succession of variations on it. Beetho- which the modern piano is incapable ven himself provided two alternative of reproducing exactly. cadenzas for this movement. Despite its hushed beginning, the ro- The E minorAndante, although bust final Rondo, in which trumpets short in extent and having, like the and drums, hitherto silent, make Adagio molto of the “Waldstein” So- their first appearance in the concerto, nata, more the function of a prelude soon dispels all thoughts of Orpheus to the finale than of an independent we may have been entertaining, The slow movement, is one of the most serene second subject (in D), intro- remarkable passages in the whole of duced by the piano, momentarily re- 4 calls the mood of the first movement; superhuman strength and passion, a brief allusion is made to it towards how much more vividly must it have the end of the central development impressed contemporary audiences, episode, most of which is concerned barely twenty years after their first with a lively discussion of the main experience of the later symphonies of theme by both piano and orchestra. Mozart and Haydn? Beethoven origi- The last 150 bars of the movement nally intended it to follow directly on are devoted to a huge coda that both the Eroica (1803-4), and the earliest reviews the events of the movement sketches appear to date from 1805 or and includes the conventional op- earlier. However, he laid it aside in portunity for a cadenza which, in order to concentrate on what we now Beethoven’s own terse direction, know as the Fourth Symphony, an “must be short” — as indeed is the altogether more genial work, which one which he himself provided. was directly prompted by his engage- ment (subsequently broken off) to When the young Mendelssohn played Countess Therese von Brunsvik. It Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C mi- was resumed in 1807, and completed nor on the piano to the aging Goethe either that year or early in 1808. The in Weimar, the poet exclaimed: “How first performance of both the C mi- big it is — quite wild! Enough to bring nor and the Pastoral symphonies took the house down about one’s ears! And place in Vienna on December 22, what must it be like with all the peo- 1808 (the program actually gave them ple playing at once?” Indeed, it would the reverse numbering to that which have been extraordinary if Goethe’s we know today) and the earlier work reaction had been any less emphatic, quickly established for itself a popu- for if we today continue to marvel at larity that has never diminished. the symphony’s uncompromising di- rectness of expression, at its almost 5 Schindler tells us that the composer los, The variations are linked by a sec- said of the opening bars of the first ondary theme, beginning in the main movement: “Thus Fate knocks at key by quickly bursting out into a tri- the door” — a characteristic remark umphant C major that seems to look which may or may not be genuine: forward to the finale. The transitions true or untrue, it has certainly not between the two tunes are contrived been lost on subsequent biographers with outstanding skill. The third move- and commentators. What is beyond ment is basically in the form of the question is that this one abrupt four- usual scherzo and trio, but with a strik- note motif unleashes a flood of tur- ing feature in its mysterious opening, bulent music, and that its presence which contrasts so strongly with the and influence persist throughout unrelenting drive of the scherzo theme the whole movement, even after its proper — a transformation of the fa- re-statement, fortissimo, by the two miliar “fate” motif into triple time. The horns, immediately after the first “trio” begins in a vein of gruff humor, great climax gives the signal for the strongly tinged with counterpoint. entry of a pliant second subject in E flat major. For all its apparent wild- Beethoven, with a stroke of true ge- ness, the movement is remarkably nius, makes the last return to the regular in structure (by comparison music of the scherzo, with its eerie with its counterpart in the Eroica, for use of pizzicato, and clipped arpeggio instance), with a terse development figures on violins and violas, and its section built exclusively on the “fate” long pianissimo succession of reit- motif, and a coda of relentless energy. erated drum taps, a direct link with the finale. This opens with a blaze The slow movement is a set of three of triumph that sweeps all before it variations on a richly eloquent theme in a tutti of expansive grandeur. It in A flat, first played by violas and cel- is in this movement that trombones 6 and contra-bassoon make their first such commendations as a Grammy appearance in the score (and in any Award nomination, Gramophone’s symphony by Beethoven); he told Critic’s Choice Award, Stereo Re- Count Franz von Oppersdorff: “The view’s Best Classical Compact Disc last movement is written for three and Billboard’s All Time Great Re- trombones and a piccolo — not for cording. three drums — but it will make more noise, and a noise of a better quali- Since her first concert tours, which ty, than if there were six.” Even here elicited high praise in New York, we can detect the presence of the Boston, London, Paris, Vienna, Ber- “fate” motif in the persistent use of lin and other capitals, Carol’s distin- triplet figures, and Beethoven also guished recital programs and guest turns back briefly to the strains of appearances with orchestras carried the scherzo at the end of the devel- her to most major European and opment, and immediately before the American cities.