Piano Concerto No. 1 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, was written in 1795, then changed in 1800. It was possibly first shown by Beethoven at his first public concert in Vienna on 29 March 1795. It was first made public in 1801 in Vienna, dedicated to his student Princess Anna Louise Barbara Odescalchi (née Countess von Keglević), also called "Babette".: Rody starého Prešporka [Families of old Prešporek] (Monada atelier, Bratislava, 2003)  . (in Slovak)

Although this was Beethoven's first piano concerto to be made public, it was actually his third, after a piano concerto in E-flat major of 1784 and the Piano Concerto No. 2. His second concerto was made public in 1801 in Leipzig after the Concerto No. 1, but was made over several years, starting in 1788.

 Movements 

Like the Piano Concerto No. 2, this concerto is similar to works by Mozart and Haydn. It uses the concerto type of sonata form and is made for solo piano and an orchestra with flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings. The flute, oboes, trumpets, and timpani do not play in the second movement.

I. Allegro con brio

Tempo:  = 144

The first movement is in sonata form, but with an extra orchestral introduction, a cadenza, and a coda. It has a main theme that is played many times, and a lyrical second theme.

There are three options for the cadenza to this movement. The coda is played by only the orchestra. It takes 14-18 minutes to play this movement.

II. Largo

The second movement is in the key of A-flat major. This movement is in ternary (ABA) form. 

Performances often last more than ten minutes

III. Rondo. Allegro scherzando

The third movement is a sonata rondo (ABACABA). The piano plays the main theme, which is then played by the orchestra.

Beethoven wrote two short cadenzas for this movement. The movement lasts eight to nine minutes.

 Recordings 
YearSoloistConductorOrchestraLabelCatalogue number1954Friedrich WuhrerHans Swarovsky Pro Musica Vienna Vox1958Glenn GouldVladimir GolschmannColumbia Symphony OrchestraColumbia Masterworks1959Wilhelm BackhausHans Schmidt-IsserstedtVienna PhilharmonicDecca1961Leon FleisherGeorge SzellCleveland OrchestraColumbia1962Wilhelm KempffFerdinand LeitnerBerlin PhilharmonicDGG1965Julius KatchenPiero GambaLondon Symphony OrchestraDecca1968Artur RubinsteinErich LeinsdorfBoston Symphony OrchestraRCA Victor Red Seal1970Stephen KovacevichSir Colin DavisLondon Symphony OrchestraPhilips1970Friedrich GuldaHorst SteinVienna PhilharmonicDecca1973Vladimir AshkenazySir Georg SoltiChicago Symphony OrchestraDecca1975Alfred BrendelBernard HaitinkRoyal Concertgebouw OrchestraPhilips1979Arturo Benedetti MichelangeliCarlo Maria Giulini Wiener Symphoniker DGG1983Alicia de LarrochaRiccardo ChaillyRSO BerlinDecca1984Alfred BrendelJames LevineChicago Symphony OrchestraPhilips1984Claudio ArrauSir Colin DavisStaatskapelle DresdenPhilips1984Vladimir AshkenazyZubin MehtaVienna PhilharmonicDecca1985Martha ArgerichGiuseppe SinopoliPhilharmonia OrchestraDGG1987Steven LubinChristopher HogwoodAcademy of Ancient MusicL'Oiseau-Lyre1988Vladimir AshkenazyVladimir AshkenazyCleveland OrchestraDecca1992Krystian ZimermanLeonard BernsteinVienna PhilharmonicDGG1997Mitsuko UchidaKurt SanderlingBavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraPhilips1998Alfred BrendelSir Simon RattleVienna PhilharmonicPhilips2002Pierre-Laurent AimardNikolaus HarnoncourtChamber Orchestra of EuropeWarner Classics2018Jan LisieckiJan LisieckiAcademy of St. Martin in the FieldsDGG2019Boris GiltburgVasily PetrenkoRoyal Liverpool PhilharmonicNaxos2020Elizabeth SombartPierre ValletRoyal Philharmonic OrchestraSignumSIGCD6142020András SchiffBernard HaitinkStaatskapelle DresdenWarner Classics90295317532020Stewart GoodyearAndrew ConstantineBBC National Orchestra of WalesOrchid ClassicsORC1001272022Kristian BezuidenhoutPablo Heras-CasadoFreiburger Barockorchesterharmonia mundiHMM902412

References

Other websites



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Category:Compositions in C major
Category:Compositions with dedications
Category:1790s compositions