Programme
Igor Levit makes no secret of the pitfalls lurking in this work: ‘No, it's disgusting to play, I can't do it’. Or: ‘Now comes the absolute fear variation of every pianist’. At least that's how he commented on his spontaneous performance of excerpts from Beethoven's Third Symphony in Franz Liszt's transcription in a podcast on Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2021. Of course he can play them all, the variations of the fourth movement - just as he is undoubtedly capable of mastering this almost unbelievable condensation of the ‘Eroica’ on 88 keys. At the Salzburg Festival, he received standing ovations for his performance of the work, which made us forget that Liszt had taken no account at all of the pianist's abilities when transferring it to the piano. Now he is once again devoting himself to the challenges that the Liszt transcription of the ‘Eroica’ holds in store for pianists before tackling the piano arrangement of Beethoven's Seventh in the Pro Arte concert the following day.
