Beethoven first made his name as a virtuoso pianist, giving daring improvisations in aristocratic private houses and salons.
Performer Biography
Maria João Pires, the pianist, gave her first public performance in 1948 at the age of four and is known for her spotless integrity and vitality.
Performer Biography
Bernard Haitink, the conductor, has had an international career spanning over five decades and has held posts as music director for several major orchestras.
Composition History
Beethoven deliberately held back publishing his early compositions, wanting to make a splash with a batch of more important new works.
Composition History
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 2 was composed before his Piano Concerto No 1, with evidence suggesting it was begun in the late 1780s while he was still in Bonn.
Composer Biography
Beethoven arrived in Vienna in 1792, just before his 22nd birthday, to study with Joseph Haydn and absorb the atmosphere of the musical capital.
Compositional Technique
The orchestra for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 2 is smaller than his other concertos, lacking clarinets, trumpets, or drums, yet still creating a martial atmosphere.
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