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Published: 19 May, 2011
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR

ALL five piano concertos by Beethoven are to be played by Mitsuko Uchida at the Barbican with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis, starting with the Second next Thursday, May 26

It’s a spell-binding combination – the elegant, deeply musical pianist and the immensely experienced octogenarian conductor.     

Both are among the world’s outstanding Mozartians – and their concerts could well be notable for bringing out the Mozart in Beethoven.

“Beethoven’s piano concertos are all very different,” says Uchida, as she’s widely known.

“In these pieces, he wrote music that was so new to the genre, particularly so in the Fourth and Fifth concertos.

“Up to the Third, there is a hint of Mozart in the background, although it’s not so noticeable on the surface.

“Mozart is one of the most vocal composers. Every note he wrote is to be sung, every note has a direction and every note behaves as an individual person.

“There is an enormous range of singing in Beethoven but it’s not straightforward vocal singing.

“It’s spiritual singing. It’s as if only the essence remains. It’s very different and I adore the energy and the contradiction within it.”

Beethoven’s Third starts in a very similar way to Mozart’s C Minor Concerto, it’s still steeped in the ideas of Mozart, she says.

But by the Fourth, it’s hard to see there was a Mozart.

Uchida says the piece is the most spiritual, most beautiful, most ethereal of any of Beethoven’s music, beautifully structured from start to finish.

Then comes the Fifth concerto, the Emperor, a grandiose, strong and amazing piece.

She adds: “To hear and play all five, to see the gradual making of this extraordinary man – it is an experience, that’s all I can say.” 

• Mitsuko Uchida/ Sir Colin Davis: Beethoven piano concertos at the Barbican. May 26: No 2; June 2: No 1; October 2 and 4: No 3; December 4 and 6: No 4; December 11 and 13: No 5. For tickets call 0844 243 0793 or visit www.lso.co.uk