There is little doubt among music lovers that Beethoven?s piano concertos are works of enduring beauty and significance. For pianist Horace Gutierrez, this rings especially true.
“When you are playing great music, you always find something that you didn?t see before or something you want to emphasize more,” he said. “It?s inexhaustible what you can do.”
Gutierrez, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, will perform Beethoven?s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” this week at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and The Music Center at Strathmore. Maestro Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, will lead musicians and pianist through a program that also includes Berlioz?s “Roman Carnival Overture” and Vaughn Williams? “Symphony No.4.”
Critics and audiences alike praise Gutierrez for the poetic insight and technical mastery he brings to a range of music. The concert will mark his third time working with Tortelier, whom he describes as “insightful, with great command of the orchestra.”
The “Piano Concerto No. 5,” which reflects the discord of early 19th-century Europe at the hands of Napoleon, will require a strong command of the music by both gentlemen to illustrate its grand and often forceful themes.
A great fan of Beethoven?s piano concertos, Tortelier notes that while “the first and second [concertos] give me the most pleasure, it goes without saying the next three are monuments of the piano literature.”
The Vaughn Williams piece will prove exciting and challenging for the audience, he said, noting the powerful “Symphony No. 4” is rarely played. Tortelier said he is thrilled to be back performing with the BSO.
Both artists have “a great history with the BSO,” BSO Vice President of Artistic Administration Jeremy Rothman said.
IF YOU GO
Beethoven’s “Emperor”
» Venue: The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda
» Time: 8 p.m. Saturday
»Tickets: $21 to $80; call 877-BSO-1444
» Venue: Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore
» Time: 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 3 p.m. Sunday
» Tickets: $25 to $78, call 410-783-8000
» More Info: 410-385-2638
