Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3

The Beethoven/Bartók: The Radicals project is underway, combining the efforts of the French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Philippe Jordan, and pianist François-Frédéric Guy.  It’s a three-year series of concerts that takes the performers all over the world, and includes the CD release of all the Beethoven Piano Concertos.  This is the final release in the series.

Guy describes how his collaboration with Jordan has helped him to create a pianistic approach that’s evolved:  “I had a style of piano playing in which the architecture of the work took priority over sonority.  As we’ve worked together, I’ve learned to pay more attention to sound, to nuances inherited from the Baroque period.  It’s not a question of striving for effect, but of finding the inner logic of the work.”

Guy has received high praise for his playing of Beethoven in particular, and we’ll have a chance to hear for ourselves later this month.  La Maison Française is presenting Guy in a tremendously ambitious project.  He will be playing all the Beethoven piano sonatas within the course of a week of concerts.  Find out more at: http://houseoffrancedc.com/