Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
March 14, 2018

This was something of a rarity: a concert program without a linking theme or title. Of course, there is a link in that Wagner was greatly influenced by Beethoven, but it was the Ninth Symphony that obsessed him. Basically though, what we heard was a concert of two masterpieces that stand up in their own right.

Nelson Freire. Photo © Benjamin Ealovega

The fifth and last of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos, the Emperor, was completed in 1811, when the composer’s deafness was too advanced to allow him to play with an orchestra. Even so, it is not “late Beethoven”, which is notable for its inwardness and emotional weight. Rather, the concerto has a bright, militaristic veneer. (Arguably, the Fourth Piano Concerto has greater depth.) From the soloist’s point of view the Fifth is also a virtuoso showpiece, right from the flourishes of the opening bars. The venerable Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire treated the concerto as exactly that, tossing off the opening cascades of notes with great fluency and evenness. Throughout, his sound had a glittering brightness to it, his approach one of urgency yet with no...