Munich Philharmonic: Beethoven / BrahmsLahav Shani (conductor), Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)
Lahav Shani combines Beethoven’s piano concerto with the apex and endpoint of Johannes Brahms’ symphonic oeuvre. With his unmistakable pianistic style, Rudolf Buchbinder is regarded as a Beethoven expert.
Lahav Shani combines Beethoven’s piano concerto with the apex and endpoint of Johannes Brahms’ symphonic oeuvre. With his unmistakable pianistic style, Rudolf Buchbinder is regarded as a Beethoven expert.
When is a work complete? Ludwig van Beethoven was already working on his Piano Concerto in B-flat major in 1790, when he was still in Bonn. So one could say it is his first work. But because Beethoven rewrote the work several times, even after its premiere, and continued to hone the solo part, the Piano Concerto in C major, which was actually written later, was published as No 1 in the meantime.
Rudolf Buchbinder embarked on an in-depth study of the manuscripts and the compositional process of Beethoven’s piano works. Coupled with his unmistakable pianistic style, he is thus considered the number one expert on Beethoven.
After completing his Symphony No 4, Brahms devoted himself mainly to chamber music, with the exception of his Double Concerto. With his four symphonies, Brahms developed symphonic composition beyond Beethoven; with the final movement of his last symphony, in which he employs the passacaglia form, he goes full circle back to the Baroque. With 31 variations, he savours the play of change in an unprecedented scale and with orchestral might.
Programme
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 2 in B-flat major, Op 19
- Johannes Brahms: Symphony No 4 in E minor, Op 98
