L. van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37. Soloist, Enrico Elisi. Live Recording.

Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra led by Maestro Gerardo Edelstein. Soloist: Enrico Elisi.

Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 3pm
Penn State Recital Hall

Visit Enrico Elisi's YouTube channel at @enricoelisi8433.

The composer premiered his Concerto in C minor during a grand Beethoven benefit concert aimed at supporting Beethoven himself, which remains astonishing even after two centuries. This event took place on April 5, 1803, at the Theater an der Wien, featuring three premieres: this concerto, the Second Symphony, and the oratorio "Christus am Ölberge" (Christ on the Mount of Olives), along with a repeat performance of the First Symphony, initially presented a year before.

Beethoven's student, Ferdinand Ries, recounted that the sole rehearsal for the concert started at 8 a.m. and was chaotic. The orchestra consisted of Vienna's second-tier musicians, as the top players were engaged in a rival performance of Haydn's "The Creation" that evening. Ries described the rehearsal as "frightful," noting that by 2:30 p.m., everyone was exhausted and unhappy. Prince Karl Lichnowsky, a patron of Beethoven who attended the rehearsal from the start, ordered baskets of buttered bread, cold meats, and wine to refresh the musicians, restoring a sense of camaraderie.

At the time of the rehearsal, the Concerto's score was incomplete and continued to evolve during the performance. Another of Beethoven's pupils, Ignaz von Seyfried, who served as Beethoven's page-turner, observed the sparse and cryptic notations on the score, resembling "Egyptian hieroglyphs." Beethoven played most of his part from memory, signaling Seyfried to turn pages with a nod. This made Beethoven laugh heartily when recalling it during dinner after the concert.

The Concerto had a second premiere in Vienna a year later, from a complete manuscript, with Ferdinand Ries as the soloist.

This Concerto represents a bridge between Beethoven's earlier Mozart-influenced concertos and his own more distinctive style. It also reflects an awareness of Mozart's K. 491 Concerto in C minor. Both works begin with a soft, ascending string figure, joined by winds at the first climax. A thematic fragment from Mozart's K. 491 appears in the ninth measure of Beethoven's work, played by the low strings. As the late Charles Rosen noted, Beethoven's solo arpeggios in the coda echo Mozart's, but the intense C-minor runs that follow are quintessentially Beethoven.

The slow movement offers a serene contrast to the energetic outer movements, featuring a lyrical piano melody accompanied by muted strings. The piano arpeggios are then entwined with the theme played by the strings and woodwinds, followed by a duet for bassoon and flute, accompanied by piano arpeggios.

The rondo finale, also in C minor, is lively yet tense, showcasing Beethoven's full array of techniques. A secondary theme introduced by the clarinet transforms the central theme into a fugue, which heralds a return to C minor. However, it unexpectedly modulates up a semitone to A-flat, employing a technique favored by Haydn, before the piano shifts to E major, a key closely related to the Concerto's slow movement.