Leuchtfeuer

From the very first bar, it is all too clear: this is a tale of great tragedy, of ambition, honour, revenge and suicide. In less than ten minutes, Ludwig van Beethoven tells the dramatic story of the Roman general Coriolanus, who reached for the stars and ended up in the abyss: A masterful musical character study, triumphant, full of emotional outbursts, with titanic fire.

In contrast to the Coriolan Overture, which Beethoven apparently wrote with ease, his Piano Concerto No. 3 was a difficult birth. Time and again the creative flow stalled, other projects got in the way, and even after three long years of sketching, discarding and composing, the work was still not finished. The premiere took place nonetheless: at the piano was the composer himself, who had the solo part in his head but not yet on paper, yet played it brilliantly. The Third Piano Concerto is a beacon of its genre, for it is no longer merely a showpiece for a virtuoso with orchestral accompaniment, but – something entirely new – strictly speaking a symphony with a concertante piano. Paul Lewis, as soloist, is a worthy successor to the outstanding pianist Beethoven.

Four days to draft a complete symphony, three weeks to finish the score: »It was born in a moment of fervour«, Robert Schumann confessed, referring to the creative frenzy from which the First Symphony emerged – a magnificent work brimming with light, brilliance and soulful, romantic intimacy. It is a “Spring Symphony” in more ways than one: he wrote it at the end of winter, »in that springtime urge which seems to overtake people right up to the highest age and anew every year.« Moreover, it describes the springtime of Schumann’s soul, having recently married Clara Wieck after a long struggle. Antonello Manacorda celebrates the composer’s triumphant entry into the realm of great symphonic music – this too a springtime of a very special kind.