Performer: Maria João Pires

Maria João Pires gives a soporific, lacklustre performance of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, while the Festival Strings Lucerne transform Honegger’s Pastorale d'été into a riveting ambient moodscape and bring pristine clarity to the Pastoral Symphony. 

The semi-retired pianist offered a generous program of Schubert and Debussy that showcased her technical prowess and interpretive gifts.

Sensitive, nuanced Bruckner from Blomstedt and a Mozartian treat from Maria João Pires.

A collaborative performance of Mozart's Sonata for two pianos was not broadcast, but Pires stanched any disappoint by offering refined interpretations of Schubert.

A lovely recital of Schubert, Debussy and Beethoven by the Portuguese pianist in Aix’s Théâtre du Jeu de Paume.

To celebrate a popular thinker's influence across the breadth of the arts in a single concert is clearly no small ambition. This programme sagged under the weight of its disparate components, but the individual works shone brilliantly.

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