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Lost Beethoven Concerto Premieres

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven

A piano concerto Beethoven was working on when he was 18 years old premiered Feb. 1 in Rotterdam. Reconstructed by Dutch musicologist Cees Nieuwenhuizen, the work was found in 2004 among a group of Beethoven sketches and drafts in the British Museum.

Beethoven outlined the work, titled Concerto in A for Piano, about seven years before his official Piano Concerto No. 1, which premiered in 1795. Nieuwenhuizen took the unfinished sketch and filled in orchestral parts based on the composer's markings and notes.

At the premiere, Conrad van Alphen conducted the Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra, with Ronald Brautigam on piano.

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