“That young fellow was full of the very devil! Not even Mozart could have improvised as he did.” When the young Beethoven first came to Vienna, his plan was to make his name as a virtuoso pianist – and as that contemporary testimony shows, he succeeded. This concert channels that spirit of youthful daring, first of all with the teenage master’s sparkling Wind Octet. And then with his Quintet for Piano and Winds: a colourful, shamelessly ambitious homage to Mozart, featuring – naturally – a gloriously flamboyant piano part intended for Beethoven himself.The concert will last approximately one hour, without interval, and will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3. All seating is unreserved.
