Beethoven, Ludwig van - Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4 - Giltburg, Boris

For audiences in the 19th century, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 was the most beloved of all his piano concertos. It is the most clearly balanced in terms of high drama, tenderness, lyricism, and humor, and the coda resolves internal tensions brilliantly and triumphantly. Piano Concerto No. 4 is the most introspective and poetic of the concertos. The simplicity of its opening piano part gives way to an unprecedented dialogue between the heartfelt piano and the austere unison strings in the central section, before the gripping energy of the dramatic finale.