Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major by Ludwig van Beethoven will be heard during the next Internet Concert on Friday, the 5th of February at 7 p.m. The solo part will be performed by the German pianist Martin Stadtfelt, well-known to the Poznan audience, while the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by Łukasz Borowicz.

The preserved first drafts and the subsequent versions of the work indicate that Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 might have been written before his Piano Concerto No. 1. Its premiere performance also occurred earlier – it was held in Vienna on the 29th of March 1795. While the Concerto No. 1 was introduced to the world by Beethoven on the 18th of December 1795, also in Vienna. During both these events the composer himself performed the piano part.

This is what Ryszard Daniel Golianek wrote about the Piano Concerto No. 2 by the Maestro from Bonn in the Poznan Philharmonic concert programme from the 24th of April 2017 (the soloist then was also Martin Stadtfeld):

Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, is a typical example of absolute music, in which the crucial composition categories stem from the disposal of sound material and creation of relations between the solo piano part and the orchestra. The long period of writing the piece (1788-1795, and after that a series of revisions till year 1801) results from the fact that it was actually the first time the composer dealt with this classical genre brought to perfection by his predecessor, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in C major, denoted No. 1, was written in the period of 1795-1801).

In accordance with the principles of a classical concerto, Beethoven arranged the work into three movements which contrast in tempo (Allegro con brio – Adagio – Rondo: allegro molto). The formal structure of particular movements (sonata form, variations, rondo) corresponds with the Mozartean model, just as the type of phrasing, figurations and the chromatics – these elements show the apparent influence of the Maestro from Salzburg. At the same time some individual traits of Beethoven’s style emerge, for instance the main theme of rondo which features a somewhat teasing, syncopated rhythm.

For the evening’s dessert – the 3rd movement of Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 by Ludwig van Beethoven, known as Appassionata. It is one of the most important piano sonatas written by the composer and also one of the most famous in the history of music.

PERFORMERS

Martin STADTFELD – piano
Łukasz BOROWICZ – conductor
Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra

PROGRAM

• Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19
  Allegro con brio
  Adagio
  Rondo: Allegro molto
• Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 Appassionata – third movement Allegro ma non troppo

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Project co-funded by Polish-German Cooperation Fund

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