Concerto

In his booklet note, Kristian Bezuidenhout touches on an issue raised by Beethoven’s legendary talent as an improviser: how much should this influence a pianist’s approach to the solo part in his concertos? The question is especially pertinent as the soloist’s music was often only very sketchily written out when Beethoven himself first performed them.

So here we have devices which aren’t necessarily meant to sound contentious but nonetheless do, such as the upwards-rolled solo chord that opens the Fourth Concerto, and similar examples