‘National Orchestra of Belgium’

The French pianist Jean-Effam Bavouzet started out as a protégé of conductor Georg Solti, but has been an artist in his own right for a long time now. Amongst others, his impressive discography on the Chandos label bears witness to this. This evening he brings us Beethoven’s Fourth piano concerto. In formalistic terms it was absolutely revolutionary, from the beginning with the unaccompanied piano, by way of the combination of harsh strings and subdued piano in the middle, to the dazzling finale which brings it all together. By doing so Beethoven raised the concerto to symphonic heights. And in his Symphonie fantastique Berlioz describes the hallucinations of a broken-hearted young artist. The unusual timbres and the driving structure mean the work has remained extraordinarily popular to this day.