Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 | Alexander Melnikov | Maxim Emelyanychev | WDR Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 | Alexander Melnikov | Maxim Emelyanychev | WDR Symphony Orchestra
貝多芬 - 第五鋼琴協奏曲 | 亞歷山大·梅爾尼科夫 | 馬克西姆·埃梅利亞尼切夫 | 西德廣播交響樂團

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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, performed by soloist Alexander Melnikov and the WDR Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev. Recorded live at the Cologne Philharmonie on June 12, 2026.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73

00:00:00 I. Allegro
00:19:33 II. Adagio un poco moto
00:27:12 III. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo

Alexander Melnikov, piano
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor

Program Notes
Vienna, May 1809. The sound of cannon fire echoes over the city. Napoleon’s troops are advancing; people seek shelter in basements and backyards. Ludwig van Beethoven, already severely affected by his
deafness, hides away in his brother’s house and is said to hold pillows over his ears—out of fear of losing even the last remnants of his hearing. Amid this
atmosphere of war and menace, he composes a work of remarkable mastery: the Fifth Piano Concerto.

The image of Beethoven as a fiery, ecstatically creative genius remains one of the most persistent narratives in music history to this day. And indeed: the fervor of his music seems to confirm this notion time and again. But Beethoven was also a designer, planner, and architect of grand musical structures. His Fifth Piano Concerto demonstrates this particularly impressively. Here, nothing seems random. Every gesture has direction
and weight. Even the opening breaks with convention. Normally, the orchestra introduces the musical ideas, and the solo instrument joins in only later. Beethoven reverses
this principle: three powerful orchestral chords—and immediately in between, the piano makes its presence felt: freely, virtuosically, self-assuredly.

Due to his progressive deafness, Beethoven was no longer able to perform the concerto himself at its public premiere. When it was first performed in Leipzig in 1811, the pianist and composer Friedrich Schneider sat at the piano. The Viennese premiere followed a year later with Carl Czerny, a student of Beethoven’s, as soloist. And already in this performance, it becomes clear: this concerto has something monumental about it. Yet without pomp, without sheer volume. In short: it is one of the pinnacle works of the genre, with music full of energy, intellectual breadth, and radiance. And with a slow movement of ethereal beauty that even Beethoven achieved only in his greatest moments.
Text: Otto Hagedorn

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