The third occupies a central position among Beethoven's five piano concertos. Not only did he work much longer on this one than the others. Beethoven also finally freed himself from the influence of Joseph Haydn here - and defied public labelling as a supposed successor to Mozart. His own handwriting is particularly evident in the second movement: the bold piano and the phlegmatic timpani enter into a previously unimaginable musical dialogue. The critics fell silent in surprise, the audience cheered ecstatically - nothing like this had ever been heard before.

What intimidated Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at the time of his Symphony No. 4 was an unnameable threat or at least predestination by fate. An austere, resounding theme dominates the introduction and forms the core of the entire work. It becomes a companion and admonisher on the way through all kinds of reveries and passions. It is only in finale evoking a folk festival that the previously unsettled soul can forget its pain: brilliant musical challenges for the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Julian Rachlin at the helm.