“With the 5th and final piano concerto by the titan of Bonn, the Norwegian pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes, arrives at the end of his “Beethoven Journey”, in this exciting “Beethovénie” pilgrimage – a fertile land of contrasts, rugged, precipitous but always open to the least expected of discoveries and plentifully adventurous. Improperly dubbed the “Emperor” the conqueror’s concerto as he goes to war, it is actually an anti-Napoleonic battle horse. A march to the charge in favor of freedom against the tyranny that spanned Europe. At the head of the young troops consisting of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Leif Ove Andsnes, both pianist and conductor, sings an ode to utopian joy, similar to the finale of the Ninth Symphony or the opera Fidelio. The result sounds more joyfully light than usual, glowing with radiance and shining so bright that it reveals the earlier model from which Beethoven most likely drew his inspiration: Mozart’s “Jeunehomme” piano concerto“In parallel with this Beethoven Journey, Leif Ove Andsnes and members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra have shared concerts and rehearsals with deaf children in the “Feel the music” experience. This is a nice way to continue the fight against the confinement of deafness, including Beethoven and his music are just the first heroes.”
Source: Télérama