Pianist Jeannie Yu is well known throughout the Midwest and around the world as an accomplished chamber musician. She’s also equally admired as a soloist with symphony orchestras such as the Xiamen Symphony, Marina del Rey-Westchester Symphony, Brandenburg Symphony and Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. In 2019 she played Chopin’s First Piano Concerto with the Festival City Symphony and now returns to play Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto.
Photo: Festival City Symphony
Jeannie Yu
Jeannie Yu
It is not clear whether it was this concerto in B-flat major or the first concerto in C which Beethoven performed in March of 1795 by way of introduction to public Viennese audiences, having already played this in private salons. The B-flat Concerto is much in the style of Mozart but already shows the contrasts and drama that appear in Beethoven’s later compositions.
Yu offered these insights to this concerto: “In this piece, one can hear Beethoven as hopeful, joyful, and confident. At the heels of the success of his three Op. 1 piano trios from the previous year, he is determined to showcase his pianistic prowess and compositional creativity,” she says. “As much as the orchestration (without clarinets) is reminiscent of Mozart’s, the harmonic inventiveness is a clear signature of Beethoven’s. The cadenza is Beethoven’s own, and he pays homage to Bach’s polyphonic style in the beginning, then, quickly evolves into a hugely virtuosic showcase.”
She remembered how her teacher “had assigned this piece and I was not particularly fond of it. Recently, my own student had chosen to learn this himself and I rediscovered the merits of this piece. As I try to imagine Beethoven’s circumstances as he was starting out his career where he was young, hopeful, and optimistic, it breaks my heart to know how his life would bring all the trials that he had to overcome. The end of the slow movement is a particularly poignant moment where the soloist plays one note at a time. It is a profoundly lonely moment which Beethoven would know all too well.”
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The orchestra will also perform the powerful Coriolan Overture and the beloved Seventh Symphony in an all-Beethoven program. 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Bradley Symphony Center, 212 W. Wisconsin Ave.
The Festival City Symphony is Milwaukee’s oldest professional symphony orchestra. This ensemble is one of Milwaukee’s best kept musical secrets. These concerts are offered free to permit them to reach a wider audience. However, there is a suggested donation of $14 for adults and $8 for children, students, and seniors.
For more information, visit festivalcitysymphony.org.
