Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata is considered one of the greatest piano sonatas of all time. Completed in 1818, the work was originally regarded as unplayable, and has retained its status as one of the most demanding solo works in the classical repertoire. It was championed by the great composer-pianist Franz Liszt, who gave the first documented public performance of the work in 1836.

Liszt also championed Beethoven’s Symphonies, creating epically virtuosic solo piano transcriptions of all nine of them. The iconic fifth symphony was one of the first he transcribed, published in 1837, and was likely performed in concert by Liszt in the 1840s on his European tours, alongside the Hammerklavier.

This performance forms part of a curated collection by Tim Walker CBE AM, Former Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.