Le Concert Olympique olv. Jan Caeyers

The Beethoven specialist Jan Caeyers and his passionate musicians from various European countries kick off with Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’, which was inspired by Napoleon’s heroic feats of arms. Beethoven’s own achievements were no less heroic. His Third was a symphony of unprecedented proportions and it opened the door to Romanticism in music.
Anyone who heard Frank Braley expressing his temperament and musicality during the maiden concert by Le Concert Olympique in autumn 2010 knows that it is no coincidence that this captivating pianist is joining this orchestra once again. Beethoven wrote his First Piano Concerto in a relatively short time in 1795, and himself gave it its first performance shortly afterwards in Vienna. Although he had not yet lived in this musical metropolis for very long, he created quite a furore as a virtuoso keyboard player. What is more, his own compositions were important to his career as a pianist. They were so challenging technically that other pianists were hard put to play them. The First Concerto has a festive air – with trumpets and tympani – and illustrates how Beethoven was trying to shift the boundaries of convention.