Symphonie Nr. 1 C-Dur op. 21

On 2 April 1800 Beethoven held the first recital (or academy) he had ever organised himself. The venue was the Altes Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz, which has since been demolished. The comprehensive and varied programme was rounded off by the first performance of his First Symphony, with Beethoven himself conducting. In this first symphonic work, Beethoven made reference to the conventions of the genre established by Haydn and Mozart, but he incorporated a few surprises of his own, too. For instance, the slow introduction to the first movement starts on a dissonant note. The underlying key of C major is artfully disguised, and only appears at the beginning of the quicker main theme.

You can hear the transition from the adagio section to Allegro con brio in this 1937 recording by the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Felix Weingartner (1863–1942). Weingartner held many operatic posts during his career, including at the Vienna Court Opera and the Volksoper. He was also chief conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic from 1908 to 1927. He achieved lasting fame as an interpreter of Beethoven’s work. His performances had a particular clarity to them, and were unusually pared-down. He was the first conductor to record all of Beethoven's symphonies.
(Constanze Köhn)