Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Presented by Liszt Academy

It is not absolutely necessary to rank the five piano concertos of Beethoven, but perhaps few would contest that the concerto in G major, the fourth in line, blends genre traditions with innovations using remarkable harmony, and Beethoven’s pleasure in experimentation gets, in a unique manner, to the common denominator with naturalness of expression. It is a multifaceted masterpiece and yet it reveals a unifying concept, the performance of which requires impeccable taste, wisdom and a sensitivity towards the most minute differences: in short, it requires Dezső Ránki. In the second half of the concert there is a performance of Christ on the Mount of Olives, an oratorio rarely performed yet, according to many, of critical importance in understanding his oeuvre. In Christ, Beethoven “does not depict the Biblical Son of God who dutifully accepts the will of his Father, but instead the flesh and blood man torn between doubts, indeed desperate, who is at the mercy of the familiar feelings of fear, hope, acquiescence and resignation.”