All five piano concertos on one bill? Gulp…Yes. This is a rare treat. For those of you do not know what a piano concerto is exactly, I will tell you. First, you have the piano. But you probably guessed that. Second, is a medium sized orchestra. You may not have known that. What basically occurs in such an event is the exchange of virtuosic piano player and the majestic power of an orchestra. I heard some describe it as a battle between the two forces. I did not see it as that at all.

Wael Farouk is the talented pianist featured in the three-hour event, “Beethoven: Five Concertos – One Pianist”. In addition to his remarkable piano skills, he is an assistant music professor at Carthage College. The Egyptian-American Farouk has performed on five continents with venues that include Carnegie Hall. His resume is amazing to say the least and taking on a task such as this gives some serious padding to his already spectacular credentials.

While Farouk impressed The McAninch Arts Center audience with his talents as a classical pianist, the New Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Kirk Muspratt and was nearly as remarkable. Muspratt conducts several orchestras in the area and also has an impressive resume. With the stage presence of a classic concert master, his sense of humor adds a touch of lightheartedness to the evening’s entertainment.

The music was essentially flawless and the playing top notch. One couldn’t help but be very awestruck with Farouk. There are only a handful of players with the chops and stamina to tackle all five concertos in one performance – and he’s one of them. It’s a lot of work playing the piano, as it can be a very physical instrument. The amount of practice and rehearsal time exhibited in Farouk’s playing must have been what would equate to a lifetime of devotion to the instrument. The orchestra was the perfect foil to the Farouk’s piano.

The concertos were played in the order that they were written. That being the case, you could hear how Beethoven matured in his harmonic sense with each piece. The forms of all five concertos were very similar. Going back to the thought of this being some type of battle, I found it more like a musical conversation. The interplay between piano and orchestra was more playful than attacking. I personally prefer conversations to word battles myself. This extends to musical ideas as well.

The pieces performed went as follows:

Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 15 in C major, written in 1795, revised in 1800. Although Beethoven performed at many private occasions during his first few years in Vienna, his official Viennese debut did not
occur until April 1800, when he was the featured soloist and composer in an afternoon concert featuring this Concerto. Running time: 36 minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 2 op. 19 in B-flat major, composed primarily between 1787 and 1789. The concerto was first performed by Beethoven in Vienna March 25, 1795 and was dedicated to Carl Nicklas Edler von
Nickelsberg. Beethoven often referred to this as “not one of the best,” however the work was quite successful. Running time: 28 minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 3 op. 37 in C minor, composed in the 1800’s, was the first of Beethoven’s concertos to use a minor key and features the dynamic tone and the turbulent emotions for which he was become
known for. Running time: 34 minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 4 op. 58 in G major, composed in 1805-1806. With this concerto, Beethoven began to create concertos that were considered genuine solo instrumental symphonies. Running time: 34
minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 5 op. 73 in E-flat major, “Emperor” written between 1809 and 1811. The powerful themes and heroic note of the composition inspired the name for this concerto. It is commonly believed the name was not given by Beethoven but by one of his friends. Running time: 38 minutes.

Over three hours of music can make one really feel for the performers, and the audience was there to meet the challenge as well. With so much music crammed into three hours, it was a lot to digest, but as a musician, I found it very educational. It was a great way to see the evolution of the mind of someone considered to be one of the greatest composers. Ludwig von Beethoven was a compositional genius. It was nice to witness how his musical mind grew, despite the fact that he was almost deaf. It was simply amazing.