Simply Beethoven: “Eroica” and Piano Concerto No. 2 with Dudamel

Two of Beethoven’s leading interpreters unite for an illuminating journey into the composer’s world. Rudolf Buchbinder, a “paragon of the elegant Viennese style” (Los Angeles Times) and “a true Beethoven authority” (The Guardian), embarks on the second leg of a full piano concerto cycle. Though published as No. 2, this was the first piano concerto Beethoven wrote and shows the composer’s mastery of a Mozartian style. The program culminates with the Third Symphony, a revolutionary work written for a revolutionary time. Though he originally intended to name the symphony after Napoleon, Beethoven rescinded the title after Napoleon crowned himself emperor and called it “Eroica,” instead. This “heroic” work, brimming with emotion and Enlightenment ideals, continues to enthrall us more than 200 years later.