(Winter Season)
Denis Matthews (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Piano Concerto No. 4, in G
8.31 app. Symphony No. 8. in F
From the Royal Albert Hall, London (Tickets, from 7s. 6d. to 3s., may be obtained from the Royal Albert Hall and the usual agents)
Unlike the third and fifth piano concertos of Beethoven, No. 4 in G is apt to impress us, not so much by weight and power, as by the more intimate qualities of poetic charm and lyrical fluency. At the opening there is a break with tradition, since it is the soloist who begins the work by quietly enunciating the chief theme, though the orchestra continues it and provides an extended exposition before the piano is heard again. But it is on this theme, with its gently persistent rhythm, that most of the movement is based, including the highly elaborate passage-work given to the soloist. The Andante consists of a remarkable dialogue in which the piano pleads its cause against the stern-voiced strings. But sweetness and light win the day, and the final Rondo steals in with a gaily rhythmical theme, thus confirming the general character of 'the work, which is that of quiet happiness and contentment.
Harold Rutland