First Viennese School with piano times two: Haydn's late (Hammerclavier) Concerto No. 11 and Beethoven's early First Piano Concerto (composed after the Second). In the series "Play & Conduct", Rudolf Buchbinder leads the Munich Philharmonic from his piano and creates dramaturgical connections between the late and early work. Haydn's concerto, with its exhilaration and sparkling virtuosity, is one of his most beloved contributions to its kind. In the second movement, he conjures an elegiac largo which is carried by the diffuse beauty of the piano sound, followed by a serene rondo "all'ungherese". The music starts to say "I" already, and that is where Beethoven's First Piano Concerto ties on. It still looks back to the great role models of the First Viennese School, but goes further and finds the first utterances of its very own, pressing style. The orchestra is expanded by timpani, trumpets and clarinets. Right after the first Viennese string sounds, the unmistakable Tutti Beethoven Deluxe Sound begins. In the second movement, there then is a largo which appears to continue Haydn's rambling thoughts.
Rudolf Buchbinder appears by kind permission of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft.
External links
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 C major op. 15