Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 - Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 & Ballade No. 4 (Live)

According to Paul Lewis, chair of the jury at the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, one of the criteria for winning the event was to have an individual, communicative voice that didn’t overshadow the music. The eventual victor, 20-year-old Eric Lu, from Boston, certainly met that demand. Here are the two performances that sealed the youngest finalist’s win. He has the technique, the confidence and, above all, the individuality in these two much-loved works. The Beethoven is beautifully shaped and the interplay with the orchestra is superb, while the Chopin embraces the piece’s extremes impressively.