Settling Down

Donald Macleod finds Beethoven seemingly ready to settle down as he is awarded the benefit concert he so badly wanted, but a new job offer means he had a choice to make. Will he stay in Vienna or go somewhere else entirely?

This week, Donald explores Ludwig van Beethoven’s life through the years 1807-1809. This was a period that ended with the traumatic second occupation of Vienna by Napoleon’s forces, and a time when Beethoven himself was feeling increasingly restless in the city after his plans to gain financial stability were thwarted.

Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

3 Songs, Op 83 No (Wonne der Wehmut)
Robin Tritschler, tenor
Julius Drake, piano

Choral Fantasy, Op 80
Martha Argerich, piano
Choir of Radiotelevisione Svizzera
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Diego Fasolis, conductor

Piano Concerto No 4 in G major, Op 58 (3rd movement)
Cedric Tiberghien, piano
BBC Natioal Orchestra of Wales
Grant Llewellyn, conductor

Piano Sonata No 24 in F sharp major, Op 78 “à Thérèse”
Wilhelm Kempff, piano

Lied aus der ferne, WoO 137
Werner Güra, tenor
Christoph Berner, fortepiano

Producer: Sam Phillips