Beethoveen: Klavierkonzerte 2 & 3 / Friedrich Gulda, Horst Stein, Wiener Philharmoniker / WZ Tonträger Vertriebs GmbH Audio CD Stereo / WZ 93403

UPC 4005092934031

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed primarily between 1787 and 1789, although it did not attain the form in which it was published until 1795. Beethoven did write a second finale for it in 1798 for performance in Prague, but that is not the finale that was published. It was used by the composer as a vehicle for his own performances as a young virtuoso, initially intended with the Bonn Hofkapelle. It was published in December 1801 as Op. 19, later than the publication in March that year of his later composition the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major as Op. 15, and thus became designated as his second piano concerto.

The B-flat major Piano Concerto will have been an important display piece for the young Beethoven as he sought to establish himself after moving from Bonn to Vienna. He may have premiered it on 29 March 1795, at Vienna's Burgtheater in a concert marking his public debut. Prior to that, he had performed only in the private salons of the Viennese nobility. While the work as a whole is very much in the concerto style of Mozart, there is a sense of drama and contrast that would be present in many of Beethoven's later works. Beethoven himself apparently did not rate this work particularly highly, remarking to the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister that, along with the Piano Concerto No. 1, it was "not one of my best." However, the pianist Peter Serkin has noted that Beethoven's writing of the first movement of the cadenza much later than the concerto proper "indicates [his] own regard for his early concerto". The version that he may have premiered in 1795 is the version that is performed and recorded today.

The Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 is generally thought to have been composed in 1800, although the year of its composition has been questioned by some contemporary musicologists. It was first performed on 5 April 1803, with the composer as soloist. During that same performance, the Second Symphony and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also premiered. The composition was published in 1804, and was dedicated to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. The first primary theme is reminiscent of that of Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto.