Ludwig von Schopfergeist (creative genius)

WFMT (98.7-FM in Chicago; wfmt.com worldwide) just aired (at 1100 CST Tues.) Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61, with soloist Rachel Barton Fine. What a masterpiece. It’s easy to say, “Violin plays the tune, then orchestra follows,” but I suspect it’s far more complicated than that. I’m hardly a musical expert—more like a novice—but it’s my opinion that part of Beethoven’s brilliance was his ability to balance the soloists with the full orchestra. There is more to his œuvre than the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, and this piece ranks high on the list.