Le Concert Olympique olv. Jan Caeyers

A beautiful closing performance for the 'Know your Classics' series, with both Mozart and Beethoven in starring roles. Mozart's Symphony no. 38 takes its name from the city of Prague, where it premiered on 19 January 1787. In terms of scale and design it anticipates the three final symphonies and creates a musical bridge between 'Le Nozze di Figaro' and 'Don Giovanni'. Its musical structure is rather complex and demands a great deal of concentration from performers and audiences alike. A live performance remains an unparalleled experience to this day - in Prague alone, the work was performed over a hundred times after the premiere. Beethoven gave the first performance of his Second Piano Concerto himself on 29 March 1795, during a benefit concert for widows and orphans given by the Viennese Court Orchestra. In fact, this concerto was a re-working of a piece that he had written in Bonn five years previously, though it had a totally new and more diabolical-sounding final section. It was a huge success, and it established Beethoven's reputation in Vienna as a great piano improviser. During this concert, we will also be hearing a magnificent concert aria for soprano, a genre in which both Beethoven and Mozart were keen to make their mark.