Blue Subscription Series 8

Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra
conductor Leopold Hager
Nelson Freire piano

L. van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 "Scottish"
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Piano Concerto No. 4, dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph, was premiered in March 1807 at a private concert of the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. However, the public premiere was not until 22 December 1808 in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien. Beethoven again took the stage as soloist. This was part of a marathon concert which saw Beethoven's last appearance as a soloist with orchestra, as well as the premieres of the Choral Fantasy and the Fifth and Sixth symphonies. A review in the May 1809 edition of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung states that "[this concerto] is the most admirable ... Beethoven concerto ever." However, after its first performance, the piece was neglected until 1836, when it was revived by Felix Mendelssohn.
"At nightfall we arrived at the palace in which Queen Mary had lived and loved… The chapel no longer had a roof, it was overgrown with weeds and ivy, but its damaged altar was the place where Mary had been crowned Queen of Scots… I believe that today I have found the beginnings of a new symphony". Thus the young Mendelssohn wrote to his parents in the summer of 1829 on visiting the small Scottish island of Staffa in the middle of the Hebrides, where he found the inspiration for his superb Third Symphony.