Beethoven develops the opening movement of his concerto #3 along the general lines of Classical concertos, but he pays specific obeisance to Mozart’s C minor Concerto near the end. Where the first movements of most Classical concertos end with a summation by the orchestra alone, Beethoven launches into a coda in which the piano continues to sparkle with arpeggios and other expressive motifs—indeed, in which the orchestra plays a subservient, merely accompanying role. At the end, the piano revisits the scales-in-octaves that had marked its entrance long before, an inspired finishing touch.
The second movement begins with the piano alone, singing with quiet nobility. Beethoven supports the hushed mood of this movement with imaginative touches of orchestration, including a magical dialogue among the piano, flute, and bassoon, against a delicate accompaniment of plucked strings. After a little cadenza, the movement dies away into a pianissimo reminiscent of music that has come before. But Beethoven will be Beethoven, and he surprises his listeners by appending one last chord, a fortissimo exclamation point.
The final movement opens with a piano solo, and this movement is all fun, unrolling as a rondo, with contrasting interludes of sunny temperament. The proceedings come to a climax when, following the soloist’s brief cadenza, a coda in triumphant C major shifts into giddy 6/8 meter and the rondo theme is broken apart and reconditioned into an insouciant sort of tune that brings everything to a high-spirited conclusion.
Here is Olga Scheps to play this concerto for you:
