Brussels Philharmonic, Vlaams Radio Koor, Martin Helmchen

Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto still shows a very clear infuence of Mozart and Haydn, but the personality of the wild, shock-headed man already bursts through all the conventions.

The Creation Mass was Haydn’s penultimate Mass, with the clear, exuberant sound of the grand master that he would remain for all time.

Flagey, Brussels Philharmonic, Vlaams Radio Koor

Martin Helmchen

That you need not be a showman to leave an indelible impression is clearly demonstrated by Martin Helmchen: “His tone control, refined dynamics and the way in which he utterly masters the rhythm leave you speechless,” wrote the Canadian newspaper Le Devoir.

Helmchen has a remarkable combination of an unpretentious and expressive style of playing, perfectly in balance with his insight and intuition.

For that insight, he delves into literature: “A musical work that is like a riddle can suddenly be unravelled by a simple sentence in a letter or book. The life world of a nineteenth-century composer is very different from ours today, and I want to understand what they sought to express.”