Edvard Grieg presented only one piano concerto to the public, and still spent a long time polishing it afterwards. He wrote it in 1868 during a trip to Denmark with his bride Nina, but it was another woman who inspired him: the famous pianist Clara Schumann, whom he had listened to as a student in Leipzig playing the A minor Piano Concerto by her husband Robert, whom he admired greatly.

The Konzerthausorchester, conducted by Andris Poga, welcomes guest soloist Eric Lu for the piece. The young American won the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2025. Thanks to the shared artistic life journey its influential principal conductor Kurt Sanderling shared with Dmitri Shostakovich, the former Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester – now the Konzerthausorchester Berlin – has a special musical connection to the composer’s symphonies. Among the legendary recordings conducted by Sanderling is the 15th and final symphony, in which the terminally ill Shostakovich reflects on his life.