Beethoven's first two piano concertos look back to Haydn and Mozart, yet while Beethoven likely modeled his third concerto for the instrument after Mozart's own C minor piano concerto (No. 24, K. 491), the style is clearly Beethoven's own, looking ahead to works such as the Eroica symphony.

The concert at which the concerto was introduced was the sort of marathon affair often favored by Beethoven: in addition to the concerto, the Symphony No. 2 and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also given their premieres, along with the already-familiar Symphony No. 1.

On the day of the performance, Beethoven was discovered at 5:00 AM copying out trombone parts for the oratorio. The one and only rehearsal for the event commenced at 8:00 AM, running non-stop until mid-afternoon when Prince Carl von Lichnowksy, Beethoven's patron, sent out for cold cuts and wine to soothe the disgruntled musicians; after their meal, the Prince requested that they run through the oratorio "just one more time." The concert, which was to have begun at 6:00 PM, was so long that music scheduled for the program was dropped.

Nevertheless, the fame of the young 32-year-old composer drew a sold-out house, even though the usual prices had been doubled-and, for the box seats, tripled-for the occasion.

In Thayer's Life of Beethoven, Ignaz von Seyfried recalls how he was recruited to turn pages for Beethoven while the composer played the solo part in his new concerto…

…but heaven help!—that was easier said than done. I saw almost nothing but empty leaves; at the most on one page or the other a few Egyptian hieroglyphics wholly unintelligible to me scribbled down to serve as clues for him; for he played nearly all of the solo part from memory, since, as was so often the case, he had not had time to put it all down on paper. He gave me a secret glance whenever he was at the end of one of the invisible passages and my scarcely concealable anxiety not to miss the decisive moment amused him greatly and he laughed heartily at the jovial supper which we ate afterwards.

The first movement opens with a lengthy exposition of the principal themes by the orchestra alone, a passage so thoroughly symphonic in character that Tovey called it "something that dangerously resembled a mistake," because "it rouses no expectations of the entry of a solo instrument." After a quick return to the tonic key of C minor and a dramatic fermata, the piano finally enters with three explosive scales, leading to its own rendition of the opening theme.

In contrast to the energy of the opening movement, the central slow movement—in the distant key of E major—seems to make time stand still. The finale, a combination of sonata and rondo forms, returns to C minor, although Beethoven briefly flirts with E major in the middle. The delightful coda is in C major—and moves to a new time signature, 6/8, just as Mozart did in his own C minor concerto.