The Beethoven Piano Concertos (Part One)

Portrait of Beethoven as a young man by Carl Traugott Reidel (1769-1832)

In order to do justice to a dedication to Beethoven for August, I couldn't exclude his wonderful piano concertos of which there are 7; 5 in number (1-5), one numbered "O" and without an opus number (WoO), and one that is a transcription of his Violin Concerto.  In this series I will cover the 5 concertos numbered 1-5, then a post on the violin concerto and it's piano transcription, and will finish off on the concerto Numbered "O" and without opus number.  I was fortunate to find a complete performance of Beethoven's Concerto No. 1 in C major for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 15 performed by one of my favorite piano concerto performers, a very young looking Murray Perahia with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the late Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997).  Murray is known for playing complete concertos with additional material in the form of exquisite solo cadenzas either composed by the original composer or by Perahia himself.  I'm not certain of the cadenza input on the following performances.

My first true interest in classical music was sparked by a recording given to me of Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto; so his concertos have always held a special place in my classical music heart of hearts.

Beethoven composed this concerto between 1796 and 1797, and first performed it with himself on piano at a concert in Prague, in 1798.

I: Allegro con brio (Part One)
I: Allegro con brio (Part Two)
II: Largo (Part One)
II: Largo (Part Two)
III: Rondo: Allegro scherzando

For more information on this concerto go here and here.

For a free score go here.