THINKING BIG

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF EUROPE

The name says it all: the Chamber Orchestra of Europe brings together top musicians from across the continent. Its members previously played in the European Union Youth Orchestra; when they reached the age limit in 1981, some of them decided to found a successor orchestra that meets in various locations on a project-by-project basis. Claudio Abbado initially served as conductor and mentor, followed later by Nicolas Harnoncourt. The COE was soon showered with awards, from Gramophone and Grammy Awards to the Opus Klassik. It became the first orchestra ever to establish its own CD label, COE Records. And the course for the future has been set, as the BBC’s “best chamber orchestra in the world” has found two venues for regular rehearsals and guest performances in Kronberg and Eisenstadt.

KIRILL GERSTEIN

His home? The piano! Kirill Gerstein, who grew up in Voronezh, Russia, and now lives in Berlin following his studies in the USA, has long been performing concerts all over the world. He made his breakthrough in 2000 in Zurich, during a performance with the Tonhalle Orchestra. This was followed by awards at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv and as a ‘Rising Star’ at New York’s Carnegie Hall; he also received the highly prestigious Gilmore Artist Award in 2010. His recordings include piano concertos by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev under James Gaffigan, as well as Brahms’s viola sonatas with Tabea Zimmermann. But Gerstein also moves stylistically between worlds: he devoted himself to jazz from an early age, and incorporates its improvisational spirit and distinctive timing into his classical interpretations.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA NO. 2 IN B FLAT MAJOR, OP. 19

How does a 24-year-old pianist from the Rhineland introduce himself to the audience in Vienna, the city of Mozart? With a piano concerto, of course – and one that both builds on the qualities of his recently deceased predecessor and sets its own tone. This is precisely what distinguishes Ludwig van Beethoven’s work in B flat major: its lyrical themes and noble gestures are just as reminiscent of Mozart as the numerous internal contrasts and harmonic surprises. By the time he reached the defiant final movement, however, the young composer had demonstrated that he was determined to forge his own musical path.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA NO. 3 IN C MINOR, OP. 37

Whilst we tend to view Beethoven today primarily as a symphonist, we must not forget that this path began with the piano. Even before he decisively set himself apart from his predecessors Haydn and Mozart with the ‘Eroica’, he achieved this in his Third Piano Concerto: it is both a symphonically conceived solo work and a drama of the soul. Pathos, gloom and defiance prevail, only to give way in the Largo to a poetic structure of a highly Romantic nature. It is no coincidence that this very piece has been linked to the personal confession of the ‘Heiligenstadt Testament’.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA NO. 5 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 73

1809 was a difficult year for Ludwig van Beethoven: a job application failed, his hearing problems worsened, and in May Vienna was occupied by the French. His 5th Piano Concerto, completed during this period, nevertheless – or perhaps precisely because of this? – strikes a combative and defiant note. The march rhythms in the first movement even seem to refer quite explicitly to the political situation. In contrast, the second movement is an introspective, almost romantic piece of music, before the final rondo reignites a whirl of dance. However, Beethoven was no longer able to perform this piece himself.