Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466

Lars Vogt is one of the most distinguished German contemporary pianists. These two live performances were recorded in Salzburg in 2008.

This release of Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”) completes the set of Beethoven Symphonies with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on EMI GEMINI, (the other two issues being Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 8 on 50999 2 17635 2 6 and Nos. 4 to 7 inclusive on 50999 5 17659 2 7). Beethoven had loved the poetry of Schiller from his youth and had contemplated making a setting of “Ode to Joy” as early as 1793. In 1817 he received an invitation to visit from the Philharmonic Society in London and bring two new symphonies but, owing to other projects – notably the last three piano sonatas, the Diabelli Variations and Missa solemnis – nothing much happened until the summer of 1822 (8 years after the premieres of previous two symphonies) that Beethoven took the initiative and asked about the financial terms. Beethoven started work even before receiving a reply and the first performance took place on 7th May 1824.

It has become a work of celebration – re-opening of the Bayreuth Festival in 1951 and on Christmas Day in 1989 to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9th November. The “Ode to Joy” theme has been adopted by the European Union and Council of Europe as its anthem. The release is enhanced by the inclusion of Youri Egorov’s performance of Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”) and, as a bonus, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20.