Cocktail Party Fact: No one has a clue where the nickname came from. It certainly wasn’t Beethoven’s idea.
Commitment Factor: About 40 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1809). A big, three-movement concerto with a couple of unique features: there is a grand opening in alteration between solo and orchestra, before the usual lengthy orchestral statement of the [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: The slow movement has, at various times, been compared to the story of Orpheus placating the Furies, David calming the wrath of Saul, and lots of other similar situations.
Commitment Factor: About 35 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1807). Three movements, but with a novelty for a classical concerto: the piano has a brief [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: There’s a really cool transcription, for solo piano, of the first movement of this concerto by the French Romantic composer Alkan. It’s unbelievably difficult, since the soloist plays both the solo and the orchestral parts at the same time. The cadenza (the part near the end of the first movement where the [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Although originally intended for an actual church service, the piece grew much too large (and was completed a couple of years too late) to ever be used liturgically.
Commitment Factor: About 75 - 80 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1823). A full scale choral Mass for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ. After Bach’s Mass [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: “Leonore” was the original title of Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio.”
Commitment Factor: About 13 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1806). Originally an overture to the opera, Beethoven detached it for use as an independent concert work.
What to Listen For: There are three “Leonore” overtures in all, and one to “Fidelio.” The first two were [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Archduke Rudolf, Beethoven’s friend and staunchest supporter among the nobility, was also a very decent composer in his own right.
Commitment Factor: About 37 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1811). Composed for piano, violin and cello in four movements. Beethoven’s Trios are the greatest written for this combination of instruments, alongside those of Schubert, [...]