Warmth, suppleness and even playfulness abound as Ax and Robertson continues their exemplary cycle.

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

June 16, 2014

The audience gave the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conductor David Robertson and pianist Emanuel Ax a generous and genuine ovation last night, after hearing them perform the Beethoven concertos Nos 3 and 4 – and rightly so, because these musicians gave us Beethoven with love.

Even in the Third, written in the composer’s stormiest key of C Minor, Robertson and Ax provided warmth at every opportunity, and a playful touch in the concluding Rondo. One doesn’t really think of this concerto as having a particularly lyrical or playful aspect, but the team of Robertson and Ax were attuned to every sudden mood change built into the music. Both concertos reflect what we know of Beethoven the man: capable of lightning mood swings from drama and obsessiveness to humor and gentleness. How typical, for example, is the final throwaway gesture of the Fourth Concerto: a musical shrug of the shoulders after the intense drama of the second movement interlude, at the close of a finale mingling high spirits and tenderness. It is Beethoven genially saying “That’s all, folks.” Each one of...