Beethoven, the Emperor

The prestigious Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the brainchild of Abbado, Haitink, Harnoncourt and Nézet-Séguin, is stopping off in Liège for the first time. It brings with it the South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim, winner of the Clara Haskil Competition and the Leeds Competition (at the age of 18), a great specialist in Beethoven, whom he conducts from the keyboard. Featuring the energetic and triumphant 'Emperor', the most famous of the five concertos, composed in 1809 (at the height of the Napoleonic Wars), as well as the Third Concerto, premiered in Vienna in 1803, the master's only concerto in a minor key. Its dark, tragic colour gives the score all its intensity.