Andy Bush finds out who kept a roof over Ludwig’s head by commissioning him to write music. Turns out there were quite a few princes, but only one of them was called a donkey…

The guests in this episode are conductor Carlo Rizzi, leader of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Maya Iwabuchi, Anna Phoebe from AVAWAVES, cellist Matthew Barley, conductor Jonathon Heyward and Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra Sir Mark Elder.

This podcast features clips of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, and Beethoven’s Symphony No.3, performed by the LPO conducted by Kurt Masur. The extracts of Beethoven’s Symphonies 5 & 9 in the podcast introduction are also performed by the LPO; LPO Label releases are available on all major streaming platforms and at lpo.org.uk/recordings. The recordings of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos 3 & 4 are performed by Elizabeth Sombart and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Piano Concerto No.5 is performed by Alessio Bax and the Southbank Sinfonia - all are available at https://signumrecords.com