Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 3 & 4

Album review

Over the years, long-time collaborators Elisabeth Leonskaja (pianist) and Tugan Sokhiev (conductor) have developed an artistic partnership that has frequently brought them together with the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse. Sokhiev had the pleasure of being the appointed music director from 2008 until 2022 when he was forced to resign for political reasons due to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. 

Recorded in 2017 and 2018 in the legendary Halle au Grains, the place the Orchestre du Capitole calls home, this record, devoted to Piano Concerto No. 3 and 4, exudes an aura of fresh nonchalance. The pianist and orchestra converse in perfect symbiosis under the watchful baton of a keen-eared conductor who seeks to capitalise on every inch of the score. The sound recording only magnifies Leonskaja’s skill, wrapping it in silky orchestration. What a delight!

The Third Concerto, published at the dawn of the 19th century, forms part of a vision of Beethoven’s homage to the elders of the classical period (predominantly Mozart). Commencing with an atmosphere of heroic tragedy, the work finds a much more triumphant conclusion in its last movement. The approach of the Fourth Concerto is more surprising. It opens with a solitary piano cadenza, which sets the general tone of the piece before developing further to combine with the orchestra. The piece provides a glowing example of the natural balance between a solo instrument (piano) and an ensemble. The work can, at times, take the form of a symphonic poem with an abundance of imagery that reveals a dazzling discourse, a testament to the composer’s profound humanism. ©Pierre Lamy/Qobuz