Beethovens Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor"

[fuel925]

Just wondering how difficult this piece actually is? (solo piano of course )

[steinwayguy]

Quite, although it's very comfortable to play, so not as difficult as it sounds or looks.

[Waldszenen]

Definitely not as difficult as the fourth.

[BoliverAllmon]

I was under the impression that it was the hardest.

[etudes]

I was under the impression that it was the hardest.

me too.

[steinwayguy]

I was under the impression that it was the hardest.

Oh no way. The fourth is a good bit more difficult.

[apion]

Oh no way. The fourth is a good bit more difficult.

I agree that the 4th is more difficult; my only problem with the 4th, however, is the 2nd movement ........ it strikes me that the 2nd mvt is a mere intermezzo movement, a mere transitional movement from the magnificent 1st movement to the sublime finale ........

(am I missing something?)

[IanT]

Whoa apion!  A mere intermezzo?!!  This movement is one of the most sublime things in all of Beethoven!

Ian

[steinwayguy]

Yeah, um, there isn't a note in that piece that isn't damned near perfect.

[SteinwayTony]

I agree that the 4th is more difficult; my only problem with the 4th, however, is the 2nd movement ........ it strikes me that the 2nd mvt is a mere intermezzo movement, a mere transitional movement from the magnificent 1st movement to the sublime finale ........

(am I missing something?)

Nope.  If anything is sublime, it's the second movement.  I think it's the "glue" that holds the concerto together.  And if anyone tries to tell you some bullshit about Liszt "hearing Orpheus taming the wild beasts," smack them in the face.  It was actually the music theorist Adolf Bernhard Marx who made that remark in his biography, but historians decided it would be more interesting to say that Liszt said it instead.