Beethoven made his first public appearance in Vienna on March 29, 1795. Then, the main interest of Beethoven's program was his performance of the solo part in his Piano Concerto, opus 19 in B-flat major. While Beethoven had composed the piece with his own performance of it in mind, he was unsatisfied with it upon its original completion. As a result, four versions of this concerto arose between 1790 and 1801. Within this period of time, Beethoven not only had written and published another piano concerto – the C major Piano Concerto, opus 15 – but was already in progress on his C minor Piano Concerto, opus 37. Thus, the B-flat major was labeled as Beethoven's second piano concerto, even though its original composition had preceded that of No. 1.
Of Beethoven's five piano concertos, the B-flat major is probably the most characteristic of 18th-century Classical charm and polish. From the four versions of opus 19, qualities reminiscent of Haydn and Mozart can be detected as Beethoven attempted to come to grips with his predecessors and overcome their influence.
Allegro con brio. In this first movement, the solo piano is, for the most part, restricted to responding to what the orchestra has already stated. The orchestral exposition, interspersed with important melodic materials, is considered one of Beethoven's finest. The cadenza to this first movement is similar in style to the movement itself. The cadenza is filled with fugal material, recalling the lyrical second theme and some of the sixteenth-note passage work that occurred during the movement. Rather than ending with the usual and expected trill on the dominant seventh chord as a conclusion, the cadenza ends with a scale passage ascending and descending in unisons, thirds, and then sixths.
Adagio. The contours of the melodic lines in this movement are entwined in figurations and arabesques. At the coda section towards the end of the movement, expressive dialogue takes place between the solo piano and orchestra. This conversational device was one which Beethoven was very fond of and frequently incorporated into his works.
Rondo. This finale neatly reverses the construction of the opening movement, allowing the piano solo to set forth melodic statements to which the orchestra responds. It is an appropriate conclusion in 18th-century Classical style, devoid of darker notions of tragedy and of the autobiographical urgency characteristic of some of Beethoven's later works.
[notes by Ting Chou]