Chamber Music Recital / Symphoniker Hamburg

The genre of the piano quartet – unjustly – stands in the shadow of the piano trio and the string quartet. Ludwig van Beethoven’s early Piano Quartet in E flat major, for example, bows down audibly before Mozart’s model, but reaches beyond its predecessor when it comes to the virtuosity of the piano part, the arrangement, and the juxtaposition of instrument groups and motifs. The 1797 premiere, originally as a quintet with four wind instruments, earned the young piano virtuoso a reputation in Viennese circles, and launched an unparalleled career.