Kirill Gerstein à Athènes
15 - 20 Mars 2026

Vous trouverez ci-dessous plus d’informations sur ce projet en Anglais:

This March, we look forward to returning to Athens with pianist Kirill Gerstein to perform all of Beethoven’s piano concertos over two evenings on 18th and 19th March at the Megaron, even Concerto No. 0!

We first worked with Kirill at the Kronberg Academy Festival in September 2023 and over the last years have developed a very strong partnership. Kirill has said: “Making music with the members of the COE is a truly magical experience. The sense of the vibrant individuality of each musician unifying into the spirit of the ensemble, all directed toward the liveliest exploration of the musical compositions. I am grateful for the inspiration the COE collective gifts.”

Following on from our concerts this March we will join Kirill again in June for concerts and recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos at the Casals Forum in Kronberg.

Very interestingly, Kirill includes Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.0 as part of his cycle. Before there was a “No. 1,” there was effectively a “No. 0” written by the teenage Beethoven around 1784–85, when he was just 13 or 14 years old and still living in Bonn. It predates his officially numbered concertos and shows him very much under the influence of Mozart. It was never published in his lifetime and in fact Beethoven did not assign it a number. It was only published posthumously with the catalogue number WoO 4 (“Werk ohne Opuszahl” — work without opus number).

Sadly, all of the orchestral material and score is lost and what remains is the solo piano part with occasional orchestral cues. Modern performances use reconstructed orchestrations created by later scholars. We will be using Ronald Brautigam’s version.
The concerto reflects the style of early Viennese Classical writing, especially the piano concertos of Mozart. Elegant phrasing, clear structures, and decorative passagework dominate, rather than the muscular drama we associate with Beethoven’s mature style. Though rarely performed, the concerto is fascinating as a portrait of Beethoven in formation, a gifted prodigy absorbing Mozart and Haydn before reshaping the concerto genre entirely in his later works (especially the Third, Fourth, and Fifth). It may not be revolutionary, but it is a remarkable early snapshot of a composer who would soon redefine what a piano concerto could be.

The Orchestra is very familiar with Beethoven’s piano concertos Nos 1-5 but has never performed a version of No. 0 before. It will be a very fascinating experience to discover No. 0 with Kirill and to perform all 6 concertos over two concerts.

Kirill Gerstein

Fascination for musical discovery combined with boundless curiosity, imagination, and virtuosity have established Kirill Gerstein as one of today’s most prolific and compelling performers. Gerstein is a searching artist. As a pianist, curator, educator, musical leader, and artistic collaborator, his exploration of resonant themes across a vast spectrum of repertoire – from Baroque suites and Classical concerti to contemporary creations, jazz, and cabaret – has nourished relationships with many of the world’s leading orchestras, conductors, instrumentalists, singers, composers, festivals, recording labels, and media platforms.

Highlights of the past season include Gerstein’s Carnegie Hall/Stern Auditorium solo recital debut, marking Ferruccio Busoni’s centenary with performances of his Piano Concerto with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Orchestre National de France, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon; Gershwin with the Staatskapelle Dresden on ZDF German national television’s traditional New Year’s eve gala broadcast; the closing concert of the Musikfest Berlin performing Messiaen’s From the Canyons to the Stars with Sir Simon Rattle; the Berg Kammerkonzert with Ilya Gringolts, Heinz Holliger and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto with Santtu-Matias Rouvali and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; returns to Japan and Korea performing Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto; engagements with the orchestras of St. Louis, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Atlanta; a release on the ECM label of Chick Corea’s The Visitors with legendary vibraphonist, Gary Burton; a poignantly timely programme with the Wiener Symphoniker pairing Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon with Beethoven’s Emperor concerto followed by a satirical encore by Hanns Eisler; and an interdisciplinary project with the Ruhr Piano Festival uniting school children, renowned choreographers, scholars and world music authorities around the music of Armenian priest, musicologist, and composer, Vardapet Komitas.

Full biography on the IMG Artists website.