Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Beethoven and Strauss — With Yefim Bronfman and the Vienna Philharmonic

Superstar conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin brings his panache and precision to the Wiener Musikverein to lead the storied Vienna Philharmonic in two powerful works: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, with the mighty Yefim Bronfman in the solo role, and Richard Strauss's epic, autobiographical tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life)!

Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, comprising two stormy C-minor movements around a central Largo of extraordinary tenderness, demonstrates a shift in gravitas and grandeur from the two earlier concertos, demonstrating the innovation and scale that would soon characterize his "heroic" period. Celebrated virtuoso Yefim Bronfman gives another "soul-satisfying" and "beautifully balanced" (Bachtrack) performance of a piece he knows like an old friend. Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, whose autobiographical character was denied by the composer but is now generally accepted, uses leitmotiv to tell the tale of the titular hero, with pointed references to Strauss's severest music critics, a romantic evocation of his wife, and dozens of allusions to his previous works.

Photo © Niklas Schnaubelt