Beethoven's career was deeply connected to the keyboard, from his youth as a prodigy to his time as a composer/pianist in Vienna, until deafness ended his performing career.
Instruments
Reed Tetzloff, the pianist on this recording, performs on a Steinway Model D piano, serial number 612153.
Composition History
Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, written in 1806, was an 'epochal new take on a genre,' similar to his Third Symphony and Razumovsky String Quartets.
Compositional Technique
A central issue in concertos, even before Beethoven, was the relationship between soloist and orchestra—whether they cooperated or competed—a drama Beethoven intensified in his Fourth Concerto.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Beethoven was among the first composers to feel the pressure of composing for future generations, and his music became more psychologically powerful as he considered the messages he would leave.
Composition History
The 'Emperor' Concerto, Beethoven's Fifth, is dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, who was his pupil in piano and composition.
Composition History
Beethoven himself premiered the Fourth Concerto in 1807, but it was his last public performance of a major work due to his declining hearing.
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