Relive the success of our first production ‘1800: Juvenile Enthusiasm: The Beginning of an Era’

World class. Outstanding! Top level. On 27 October, Beethoven27 was a guest at the magnificent Saint Peter and Paul Church in Mechelen, preceded and followed by concerts in Ludwigsburg and Hamburg as well. On the programme: Beethoven's first steps into the demanding field of the piano concerto, the symphony and the sonata.

Beethoven's introduction to orchestral works

The First Symphony (op. 21) and the Second Piano Concerto (op. 19) marked Beethoven's primary achievements in both orchestral disciplines. Although the Second Piano Concerto was written earlier than the First Piano Concerto, it did not appear in print until later, so it was numbered second. The work was probably first performed during Beethoven's debut as a concert pianist in Vienna, on the occasion of a charity concert on 29 March 1795. The First Symphony, in turn, formed the final piece of the great Akademie organised by Beethoven himself on 2 April 1800, which brought about his final breakthrough as a composer.

Juvenile enthusiasm and first innovations

Both pieces are still partly rooted in the late-eighteenth-century Viennese tradition of Haydn and Mozart, characterised by a juvenile enthusiasm. This is especially true of the Second Piano Concerto in which Beethoven raised a multitude of attractive musical ideas. At the same time, you already hear in both works the beginnings of an innovative drive for coherence, treating themes and motifs based on musical logic. What strikingly distinguished the First Symphony from all music written before it was the high speed at which the proceedings unfolded and the unusual nervousness caused by frequent accents and sforzati. This makes the First Symphony a true ‘Beethoven symphony’.

Blurring boundaries exhibited by the Pathétique

Between these two great orchestral works, star pianist Kit Armstrong performed Beethoven's Piano Sonata no. 8 (op. 13). This so-called ‘Sonate pathétique’ acted as a connecting piece and made the listener aware of the double interference, one that was particularly important for Beethoven's development as a composer. The work also illustrated how the boundaries between orchestral, chamber and solo music (which used to have their own idiom) gradually blurred at the turn of the century. The Pathétique often sounds like an orchestral work translated to the keyboard. Moreover, while writing the First Symphony, Beethoven used the compositional experiences he gained in this sonata.

Concert opening with Bach's classics

As in all concerts of the Beethoven27 project, Kit Armstrong opened the concert with a piece by Bach. The first production kicked off with the Prelude and Fugue no. 21 from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 890). These were in the same key as the subsequent Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto. This alluded to the significance of this iconic keyboard music in Beethoven's musical education and made us aware of Beethoven's axiom that innovation only makes sense if it is based on a thorough mastery of tradition. At the same time, Bach's work acted as an opening ritual that helped players and audiences leave the profane world behind and turn ears and minds to the world of elevated sound play.

Our first concert production was splendid. Piano virtuoso Kit Armstrong, conductor Jan Caeyers and the musicians of Le Concert Olympique played the most beautiful Beethoven music and left the audience on the edge of their seats in excitement and expectation. Want to relive this unforgettable musical evening?