The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto No 5 and Johannes Brahms’ First Symphony on Saturday at the Katara Cultural Village Opera House. Korean conductor Nanse Gum and Greek pianist George Lazaridis will join the orchestra for the concert.
Beethoven‘s Emperor Concerto opens with three majestic chords, like three pillars of sound. The piano answers with a blizzard of ornament. This starts the longest concerto movement written in its time, a piece with grandeur, martial elements and yet also mystery. The piano is at times improvisatory, at others rhetorical and in dialogue with the orchestra. The slow movement creates a mood of sublime simplicity while the finale gallops with exuberance.
Gramophone Magazine has called pianist George Lazaridis’ performances of “such drama, power and concentration that hold their own even if you stop to consider celebrated recordings of Horowitz, Argerich, Brendel and Zimmerman.”He has performed in the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein.
Lazaridis has appeared with leading orchestras such as the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Warsaw Symphony, Munich Symphony, WienerKammer Orchester, RTBF Symphony, Debrece Symphony, London Festival Orchestra, English Symphony, all the Greek orchestras and the Athens Camerata.
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