Beethoven Premiere in Athens

In March, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe is invited to Athens, where it will perform Beethoven’s piano concertos over two days with Kirill Gerstein. What makes this two-day residency particularly special is that Gerstein is including Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 0 in the cycle. Before there was a “No. 1,” there was effectively a “No. 0,” written by the young Beethoven around 1785, at the age of 13 or 14. This work predates his officially numbered piano concertos and clearly shows the influence of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was never published during Beethoven’s lifetime, and he himself did not assign it a number. It was only published posthumously in the catalogue as WoO 4 (“Werk ohne Opuszahl” — work without opus number).

For the COE, the performance of this partially surviving work marks a premiere.

18 & 19 March 2026, Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall
BEETHOVEN PIANO CYCLE
Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Kirill Gerstein, piano & leader
L. v. Beethoven: Piano concertos 1 – 5, WoO 4.