Leonard Bernstein was so enamored by this music that he borrowed its initial theme for the song Somewhere in his musical West Side Story. The adagio is Beethoven on a spiritual high, the piano’s delicate, ascending melody set against muted strings in what sounds like a hymn. “And what makes it special is the simplicity with which Beethoven delivers his message.’’
“The second movement is undoubtedly sublime,’’ Paremski adds.
Imagine the opening and closing movements of his Ninth Symphony unmoored from the central adagio that brings them to life. But the Emperor reveals something else: a tenderness and lyricism that serve to deepen the surrounding struggle. “And every orchestra plays differently, so I very much look forward to coming together with The Florida Orchestra.’’īeethoven’s popularity rests in part on his power – the full-throttled energy of so many of his orchestral and chamber works. “It’s impossible to feel stagnant playing this piece, as it’s such an incredible showcase for the orchestra,’’ she says. The intensity of the opening allegro shows Beethoven pushing the boundaries of the keyboard “closer and closer to our modern instrument,’’ says Natasha Paremski, the featured soloist in this weekend’s concerts and who performed Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with TFO in January. 4 with the soloist in the driver’s seat, but not on such a dramatic path. Yes, Beethoven also begins his Piano Concerto No. The piano enters like a wave crashing on shore as it unleashes a wash of notes in all directions. Unlike most concertos up to this time (1809), Beethoven introduces the soloist at the onset, overturning the tradition of a lengthy orchestral exposition. Its warlike rhythms, pointed melodies and bold character led the musicologist Alfred Einstein to call it the “apotheosis of the military concept’’ in Beethoven’s creative output.
His resolve, however, overcame his liability, evident in a work of unprecedented depth and expression.Ĭast in the majestic key of E-flat major, the concerto is a dialog among equals – soloist and orchestra carry the same assertive weight throughout – although the piano is the hero of this story. 5, the famed Emperor, written when deafness forced him to compose in the “absence’’ of sound and rely on conversation books to communicate. Plagued by financial troubles most of his life, deafness by age 30, a variety of illnesses, and a paradoxical relationship with those around him, Beethoven could easily have given into what he called his “unfavorable fate.’’ Instead, he persisted, and his stubbornness – his most resilient trait – literally changed 19 th century musical thought and action.Īn example of this persistence can be heard and felt in his Piano Concerto No. The evolution of Beethoven’s creative genius makes for one of the more intriguing biographies of any artist.
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