Lang Lang plays Beethoven

Music of Ludwig van Beethoven
b. Bonn, Germany / December 15, 1770; d. Vienna, Austria / March 26, 1827

Fidelio, Op. 72: Overture

\"Of all my children, this is the one that caused me the worst birth pangs, the one that brought me the most sorrow, and for that reason, it is the one most dear to me.\" So wrote Beethoven of his only opera, Fidelio, originally titled Leonore. Its creation and revisions spanned an entire, difficult decade. He ended up composing no less than four overtures to introduce it. For various reasons the first three proved unsuitable, although the Leonore Overtures 2 and 3 have become popular concert fare.

He created the fourth prelude, the one to be heard at this concert, in 1814 for the début of the opera's final version. Known as the Fidelio Overture, it has been used to introduce virtually every production of the opera since that time. This concise, compelling work provides an aptly stirring introduction to this noble tale of devotion and heroism. Possibly based on actual events from the \"Reign of Terror\" that followed the French Revolution, Fidelio's libretto is a \"rescue\" story, a genre popular throughout Europe during this period. Leonore disguises herself as a boy, Fidelio, and frees her unjustly imprisoned husband.

Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60

Beethoven completed Symphony No. 3, the mighty \"Eroica,\" in 1803. He began his next symphonic project shortly thereafter, but an overcrowded work schedule and uncertainty regarding the new piece's structure caused him to set it aside. In 1808, it would become Symphony No. 5. He then successfully brought Symphony No. 4 to term. He did most of the work on it in 1806, another busy year which witnessed the creation of the Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto No. 4 and the three \"Razumovsky\" string quartets, Op. 59, as well as the first, unsuccessful revision of his opera, Fidelio.

That autumn he visited his patron Prince Lichnowsky at his summer estate near Troppau. There he met another great music lover, the Prince's neighbour, Count Franz von Oppersdorf. An ardent admirer of Beethoven's, the Count invited him and the Prince to his castle. He had his private orchestra perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 during their stay, then commissioned a new symphony from him. The fee of 500 florins gave him six months' exclusive rights to it. Symphony No. 4 is dedicated to him; he would later commission No. 5, as well. It is probable but not proven that the Count's orchestra gave the Fourth its première. The first fully documented reading was a private one that took place in Vienna in March 1807.

A prominent element in Beethoven's sense of humour was a love of creating false expectations. This led him to begin this symphony, in essence a light-hearted work, with an introduction forecasting the exact opposite. Gloomy and questioning, it appears to be prefacing a dark, dramatic composition. This makes the arrival of the main allegro, which disperses these clouds with music of joyous abandon, all the more effective. Throughout the movement, Beethoven regularly offers the musical equivalent of pokes in the ribs, through displaced accents and sudden shifts in dynamics.

The slow movement glows with warmth. Beethoven keeps it moving by underpinning it with a gentle but steady rhythmic pulse. The ensuing menuetto is in fact a rough-hewn rustic scherzo, its title a typical Beethoven jibe aimed at tradition. The rambunctious opening and the languid central trio sections coming round and round in playful succession, a practice he would repeat in Symphonies 7 and 9. The finale, an exhilarating exercise in forward-pressing perpetual motion, surpasses all that has preceded it for sheer excitement and high spirits.

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 \"Emperor\"

Beethoven composed this monumental concerto between 1808 and 1809, against the backdrop of French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to the zenith of his power. Beethoven had once admired the \"Little Corporal\" for his early devotion to the humanitarian ideals of the French Revolution. Once Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804, however, Beethoven's attitude changed instantly to scorn. He struck Napoleon's name from the title page of his Third Symphony, a work he had planned to dedicate to him.

In May 1809, French troops besieged and captured Vienna. During the period when Beethoven was at work on this concerto, their regular artillery bombardments were chipping away at the last shreds of his hearing. He fled to the basement of his brother's house and covered his head with pillows. Part of his thinking in making this concerto so heroic in nature may have been to thumb his nose at Bonaparte, to take a musical stand against the tyranny that the dictator represented.

The opening movement is bold and sweeping, a confident statement of power and celebration. In its own, serene and lyrical way, the slow second movement is every bit as assured as the first. A simple bridge passage connects it to the third movement. Its magic remains undimmed, no matter how many times you hear it. The piano quietly anticipates the theme of the rondo finale, before that exuberant, dancing melody bursts in with full vigour.

Programme Notes ©2011 Don Anderson

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