'Lost' Beethoven finally sees the light with Chicago performance

It's a performance that's long overdue, to say the least.

Nearly 182 years after Beethoven's death, three musicians on Sunday night are to give the first known performance of his lost piano trio in E flat major.

Pianist George Lepauw performs the piece at Chicago's Murphy Auditorium with fellow members of the Beethoven Project Trio.

The existing manuscript disappeared for more than 100 years before it was rediscovered and published in 1920. But even then it attracted little notice.

Lost works by other composers resurface occasionally, but they're a rarity for Beethoven.

Sunday's performance includes the North American premieres of two other once-lost Beethoven pieces. The concert will be broadcast live by Chicago's WFMT-FM.