There was something deeply human and rejuvenating in watching two men in the Prospero phases of their careers expressing in the most magical and grand terms music by Beethoven – not written in the Prospero phase of his. The Fourth Piano Concerto was one of those performances where the performers are invested to such a degree in a vision of the music that they can indulge their own pleasures which reside mostly in absenting themselves from interpretive decisions except to let the music unfold at a leisurely pace appropriate at a time where suddenly consolation is paramount. Everything András Schiff touched turned into beauties that often seemed unexpected as if he himself were hearing them in some profoundly new sense for the first time. He unpacked every trill with wonder.
His first movement cadenza was a thing of fleeting thoughts and impulses and yet as the cadenza wore on Schiff sternly asserted control with a sweetness that made the rendezvous with the orchestra all the more meaningful, Schiff's velvety bright Bösendorfer taking precedence over the self-effacing winds and rich solid strings before keeping the pedal down after the last chord, like at the end of the Triple Concerto.
Daniel Barenboim's gruff Staatskapelle Berlin introduction led to a true Andante con moto which made the final argument leading into the pianist's downward spiral all the more poignant, not deconstructed notes but a pleading human voice. Schiff did something wonderful again with trills on the main theme of the reasonably lively Vivace, closer to a turn. The clarity of the interplay between Schiff and the orchestra at the moderate pace allowed the various sequences to have special personal consequences, with Schiff's evanescent pearl-like runs perfectly appropriate to those interludes of lyrical beauty between the forces of energy and exultation. After triumphantly negotiating the hazards of the cadenza, Schiff was greeted by especially sweet-toned pairs of clarinets and bassoons before the surge of power at the end.