Munich, Germany – Bayerisches Staatsorchester – Beethoven

Mitsuko Uchida, piano
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor

PROGRAMME:
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58

Programme also includes
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 9

VENUE NOTE:
It was a quiet revolution that Ludwig van Beethoven undertook with his Fourth Piano Concerto. A revolution because it changed the relationship of the individual to the whole, among other things by making the piano the first to speak, unlike what had been customary up to that point; and silent, because it does so with quiet tones at first. Mitsuko Uchida, one of the great pianists of our time and revered worldwide as a Beethoven interpreter, will perform together with the Bavarian State Orchestra for the first time. A similarly intense expression is the Third Symphony by Johannes Brahms. In it, he combined a wide range of emotions – whether dramatic conflicts as in the first movement or internalised longing as in the Allegretto – with almost cyclical coherence; the piece is not aimed at external effect, all four movements fade away in the piano. Brahms’ companions reacted enthusiastically, Clara Schumann, for example, wrote enthusiastically about the new composition: “What a work, what poetry, the most harmonious mood through the whole, all movements as if cast from a single mould, a heartbeat, every movement a jewel!” – and his younger colleague Antonín Dvořák praised the piece with the words: “What wonderful melodies can be found in it! It’s all love, and it makes your heart beat faster!”