Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto, his longest and most forceful, was
composed in 1809. The opening movement immediately proclaims the concerto's
air of command, with its unexpected beginning by the soloist alone. This
very long first movement is followed by a compressed, intense second
movement. Over a sustained, expectant low note held by the horns at the
very end of the movement, the piano begins to build a theme which turns out
to be the choppy, powerful rondo theme of the third movement. This work
represents a synthesis of all the contrary forces at work in Beethoven's
oeuvre. Though it is often called the "Emperor" in English-language music
literature, Beethoven did not call it thus. The work was premiered in
Leipzig on 28 November 1811.
Soloist Maurizio Pollini is one of the most distinguished pianists of our
time, who has performed with the world's leading orchestras. A committed
advocate of contemporary music, Pollini frequently performs works by
Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Nono, Boulez and Stockhausen. However, he has
also given complete cycles of the Beethoven sonatas in Berlin, Milan, New
York, Munich and other cities. On the occasion of a performance of the
Beethoven concertos at New York's Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra presented him with its "golden ring", a rare distinction awarded
to only few musicians.
