Sir András Schiff performs Beethoven’s dark and tempestuous Piano Concerto No. 3.

Six months before he premiered the Concerto, on 5 April 1803, Beethoven had suffered a terrible crisis as he faced up to the reality of his hearing loss. The work’s key, C minor, is one that he associated with struggle and fate throughout his life; he uses also it for the ‘Pathétique’ Sonata and the last Sonata (No. 32, Op. 111), and most famously the Fifth Symphony.

Filmed in black and white, this concert is a beautiful showcase of craftsmanship and musicality. Schiff’s attention to the detail of Beethoven’s work is vividly illustrated here – for example in the slow movement where he says “Beethoven provides some extraordinary pedal markings, which very few performers actually follow!” – as he plays a recreation of a historic 1822 Graf fortepiano. He is joined by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for a captivating, historically informed, performance.

This concert was filmed on 8 June 2022 at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.