Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 5 ‘Emperor’ & 0

These works share the common key of E flat major but represent two very different stages in the composer’s life. The Piano Concerto No. 0, WoO 4, written when Beethoven was 13 years old, is one of his earliest works. With the orchestral score lost, this extant version for piano solo written in Beethoven’s hand includes the tutti sections reduced for piano. The radiant ‘Emperor’ Concerto shows the 38-year-old Beethoven at the peak of his creative powers, and remains a glorious example of his spirit triumphing over life’s adversities. • Boris Giltburg with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra have already recorded Beethoven’s First and Second Piano Concertos (8.574151) in an album that has received wide critical acclaim: ‘Boris Giltburg plays both works with the youthful panache that they require… Petrenko accompanies with real flair’ (ClassicsToday.com).