Beethoven, Choral Fantasy for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra in C minor, op.80

The Choral Fantasy is generally held to be a preliminary study for the 9th Symphony, even though it was composed as early as 1808, namely 16 years earlier. In the Choral Fantasy, Beethoven overcame confines and conventions of both form and orchestration to show the pleasure he derived from tonal experimentation. In contrast to the 9th Symphony, where his composition was stimulated by Schiller's verse, Beethoven was not particularly enthusiastic about the flowery kitsch of Christoph Kuffner's poem. After the first four lines, we already well understand Beethoven's express request for a different text. The piano solo with which the work commences was probably extemporized by the composer at the premiere on 22 December 1808 in Vienna - the art of improvisation was expected of any virtuoso musician of Beethoven's time. Leonard Bernstein conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Wiener Jeunesse-Chor and pianist Homero Francesch. The recording was produced in 1986.