“Compact Concertos” with pianist Bradley Martin

     For centuries, composers have showcased their own virtuosic keyboard skills through piano concertos. This tradition started with Mozart, composer of twenty-seven piano concertos, who entertained and delighted the Viennese public from the keyboard. The two composers represented on April 11, Ludwig van Beethoven and Camille Saint-Saens, also used the genre to display their pianistic skill through pieces written for important occasions in their lives. The Fifth Concerto by Beethoven, nicknamed the ‘Emperor,’ was his last foray in the genre and to this day is the concerto most often performed in Carnegie Hall. The fiery Second Concerto by Saint-Saens, written in just three weeks, is among the most popular of all concertos. Last fall, it was played by Lang Lang in the concert to reopen Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. In the past, composers didn’t always have a full orchestra available to accompany them, so they sometimes played with reductions for just four or five string players. Rarely heard today, this concert will put the spotlight on these compact concertos.