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Topic: Beethoven Concerti  (Read 1684 times)

Offline chopinlover01

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Beethoven Concerti
on: February 12, 2016, 03:59:58 PM
So, I'll likely be learning a Beethoven Concerto in the near future (the Mozart is being ditched due to lack of interest and the fact that the orchestra loses all their lead violins next year!), probably performing it by my senior year.
I've basically narrowed it down to #3 or 4, 1 & 2 being somewhat boring and #5 being on another level pianistically.
That said, what are your favorite concerti? If you say #5, please give a second place ;D

Offline piulento

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Re: Beethoven Concerti
Reply #1 on: February 12, 2016, 08:00:31 PM
Hi there!
4 is definitely my favorite. It's such a fun and lively piece, especially the third movement! It also looks really fun to play (and when it's played by a good and virtuosic pianist I literaly can't do anything besides listening to it).
3 is also great (it has the whole "serious Beethoven in C minor" thing going on), but I personally like no. 4 better.
I especially recommend listening to Zimerman play it with Bernstein (definitely the best duo to ever perform this piece). He really captures the essence of this concerto:



Best of luck!

Offline bachopiev

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Re: Beethoven Concerti
Reply #2 on: February 12, 2016, 09:25:54 PM
Well, I'm not a particular fan of Concerti 3 or 4. Or 5, for that matter. Interestingly, I am infatuated with No. 1 in Fm. I think it is a gorgeous Sonata, and one that you should seriously consider. Though on first glance you may not like it, try reading it /listening to it again. Really analyze the music. I've always had a deep connection with No. 1, and recommend that one ... sorry that I'm not answering your question per se, but I can't give you a good answer between 3 and 4.

Here, is a great recording of said Concerto, played by Barenboim. The neat thing about this recording is that you can follow along with the sheet music, thus you can "read it" and listen to it at the same time.



You also asked our favorite Beethoven Sonatas in general. For me, that is definitely No. 29 (Hammerklavier), No. 31, No. 32, in no particular order. No. 28 is a close fourth, but the above are my top three.

I hope this was helpful.
Albeniz - Suite Espagnole
Bach - Goldberg Vars
Chopin - Ballade No 2, Barcarolle, Polonaise Op 44
Beethoven - Sonata No 31
Mozart - Sonata No 14
Schubert - Sonata No 16
Prokofiev - Sonata No 2

Offline kawai_cs

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Re: Beethoven Concerti
Reply #3 on: February 13, 2016, 12:36:36 AM
Oh, and why did you lose interest in Mozart? I might not remember it correctly, but I thought it has been in your signature for quite some time so you must have put a lot of work in it. Just curious.
My reply won't be very helpful because currently my favorite is the 5th one. Second favorite is the 3rd but I also love the 3rd movement of the 4th concerto.
In my last year in music school I played the 1st movement of 3rd concerto with my teacher. But she was always unprepared with her part so it was not so much fun.  (Probably she thought the same about my playing so she did not bother preparing haha).
Chopin, 10-8 | Chopin, 25-12 | Haydn, HOB XVI:20

Offline chopinlover01

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Re: Beethoven Concerti
Reply #4 on: February 13, 2016, 07:43:17 AM
Oh, and why did you lose interest in Mozart? I might not remember it correctly, but I thought it has been in your signature for quite some time so you must have put a lot of work in it. Just curious.
My reply won't be very helpful because currently my favorite is the 5th one. Second favorite is the 3rd but I also love the 3rd movement of the 4th concerto.
In my last year in music school I played the 1st movement of 3rd concerto with my teacher. But she was always unprepared with her part so it was not so much fun.  (Probably she thought the same about my playing so she did not bother preparing haha).
I lost interest in the Mozart mostly due to lack of variety in what I was playing. I hadn't really been working on it extensively, it was on the backburner basically the entire time.

Well, I'm not a particular fan of Concerti 3 or 4. Or 5, for that matter. Interestingly, I am infatuated with No. 1 in Fm. I think it is a gorgeous Sonata, and one that you should seriously consider. Though on first glance you may not like it, try reading it /listening to it again. Really analyze the music. I've always had a deep connection with No. 1, and recommend that one ... sorry that I'm not answering your question per se, but I can't give you a good answer between 3 and 4.

Here, is a great recording of said Concerto, played by Barenboim. The neat thing about this recording is that you can follow along with the sheet music, thus you can "read it" and listen to it at the same time.



You also asked our favorite Beethoven Sonatas in general. For me, that is definitely No. 29 (Hammerklavier), No. 31, No. 32, in no particular order. No. 28 is a close fourth, but the above are my top three.

I hope this was helpful.
The 1st Concerto is in C major. You gave a link to the 1st sonata, which, while wonderful, is not the topic, and neither were any of the other Beethoven sonatas. The topic today is Beethoven Concerti, so please give us some opinions on that! :D
Hi there!
4 is definitely my favorite. It's such a fun and lively piece, especially the third movement! It also looks really fun to play (and when it's played by a good and virtuosic pianist I literaly can't do anything besides listening to it).
3 is also great (it has the whole "serious Beethoven in C minor" thing going on), but I personally like no. 4 better.
I especially recommend listening to Zimerman play it with Bernstein (definitely the best duo to ever perform this piece). He really captures the essence of this concerto:



Best of luck!
Zimerman is my go-to for these works. I'm currently drifting between 3 and 4 right now. 3 clearly has a lot of influences from Mozart's C minor concerto. 4 is a gorgeous work but those thirds are killer!

Offline irrational

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Re: Beethoven Concerti
Reply #5 on: February 16, 2016, 08:54:53 AM
Definitely 4.
It has always been my favourite, but when I listen to 5 again it always amazes me.
My personal is 4,5,3 but the difference is almost negligible.

I like Murray Perahia's recordings with Haitink and Concertgebauw as a more modern recording, but for 4, I think Gilels 1958 recording with Leopoldt Ludwig and the Philharmonia is something else entirely.
He also uses the other very little used Beethoven cadenza which is much more story and frankly, weird if you are used to the "normal" one. I quite like it though.

Offline bachopiev

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Re: Beethoven Concerti
Reply #6 on: February 19, 2016, 04:06:51 PM
LOL. Completely had a brain slip, inasmuch as I misread concerti as sonatas. No comment. And the hilarious thing is that I actually used the word Concerto whilst meaning sonata.

Yes, please disregard the entire post.

In reality, my favorite is Concerto No. 3.

Albeniz - Suite Espagnole
Bach - Goldberg Vars
Chopin - Ballade No 2, Barcarolle, Polonaise Op 44
Beethoven - Sonata No 31
Mozart - Sonata No 14
Schubert - Sonata No 16
Prokofiev - Sonata No 2
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