SERGEY SMBATYAN Conductor
DMITRY ISHKHANOV Piano 

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 37

Young pianist Dmitry Ishkhanov joins the MPO for the piano concerto premiered in 1803 with the composer as soloist. The night’s page-turner, recalled how Beethoven played nearly all the solo part from memory as “he had not had time to set it all down on paper”. 

The dark drama of the work, reflected in the chosen key, mirrors the personal turmoil experienced by the composer, struggling with poor health and the awareness of an irretrievably damaged hearing. Yet the contrasting power and poetry underline Beethoven’s status as ushering in the Romantic era.