Beethoven: Symphony No.1 in C; Piano Concerto No.1 in C

Featuring

Seiji Ozawa
Martha Argerich
Mito Chamber Orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven

Did you know?

1/7

Recording & Production

This album features live recordings made in January and May 2017 at Art Tower Mito in Mito City, Ibaraki, Japan.

Compositional Technique

The First Symphony's opening chord is a dominant seventh of F in a C major work, serving as a "rude surprise" or "wake-up call" for a new era.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Beethoven viewed his pursuit of music not merely as a career, but as a "spiritual crusade" with the desire to become "a complete man."

Performer Biography

The Mito Chamber Orchestra, established in 1990, consists of hand-picked outstanding orchestral and chamber musicians from Japan and overseas.

Composition History

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15, was entirely new and written during the winter of 1794-95, unlike his earlier Piano Concerto No. 2 which had begun in the late 1780s.

Composer Biography

Beethoven moved to Vienna in November 1792 to study with Joseph Haydn, where his astonishing keyboard skills quickly gained recognition.

Interpretation

Pianist Martha Argerich prefers the earlier, more modestly proportioned second cadenza for Beethoven's First Piano Concerto, which Beethoven wrote 14 years after the work's origin.