Sir Donald with Mahler

When Beethoven wrote his Fifth and final piano concerto in 1809, Vienna was besieged by Napoleon's troops. The sounds of war and economic uncertainty – his patron Archduke Rudolf had left the city – influenced the creation of the work. Beethoven composed a piano concerto with an exceptionally new form for the time, in which the soloist alternates between heroic and peaceful moments. Despite the difficult circumstances, the work does not reflect f...