Ludwig van Beethoven fascinates not only as a composer gifted with a brilliant imagination, but also as a man of immense moral strength. The NFM Wrocław Philharmonic concert will feature masterpieces by the Bonn Classicist, composed during two periods in his life that forced the artist to come to terms with his hearing loss. Andrés Salado will conduct. Pianist Fabian Müller, winner of five awards at the 2017 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, will perform as soloist in the “Emperor” Concerto.

Written in 1809, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major is commonly known as the “Emperor,” but this term comes not from the composer but from his publisher, Johann Baptist Cramer. The nickname has proved to capture so aptly the character of this powerful composition, brimming with energy, brilliance, and majesty, that it has become a fixture. The solo part offers the virtuoso performing it an excellent opportunity to showcase their skills. Beethoven was an artist who loved to employ new, unconventional sound solutions, and he did the same here. The third movement features a section in which the piano is accompanied only by timpani. This work is the only piano concerto by Beethoven not premiered by himself due to progressing hearing loss.  

The Symphony No. 2 in D major was composed seven years before Beethoven’s death in 1802. The composer was already struggling with hearing loss, which nearly drove him to suicide. Ultimately, he made the heroic decision to live with his disability. Although the German dedicated the work to his patron, Prince Karl Alois Lichnowsky, he slowly began to depart from courtly culture. This is symbolised, for example, by the replacement of the courtly dance, the minuet, customarily included as the third movement of a symphony, with a scherzo. The word means “joke” in Italian. A light and cheerful mood continues in the composition’s finale. Although The Second is now part of the symphonic canon, after its premiere, not all critics were thrilled with it. One complained about the piece’s length, comparing it to... a wounded dragon, bleeding and writhing in convulsions, but unable to die!