Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Nikola Meeuwsen

Nikola Meeuwsen, winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition for piano, plays Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. You will also hear Dvořák's Eighth Symphony, which is full of positive energy.

Nikola Meeuwsen with Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto

In 2025, Nikola Meeuwsen became the first Dutchman ever to win the final of the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels, perhaps the most prestigious music competition in the world. 'In the gigantic solo cadenza of the first movement, Meeuwsen wrapped his astonishing power in great emotional depths and a rare insight into Prokofiev's musical structure,' wrote NRC about his performance. Last October, he gave his first solo recital in the Great Pianists series in a sold-out Main Hall of the Concertgebouw. With the Netherlands Philharmonic he will perform Beethoven's lyrical and sometimes dark Third Piano Concerto .

Dvořák's Eighth Symphony

Of all the symphonies Dvořák wrote, the Eighth Symphony is the most energetic and cheerful. 'The melodies flow naturally from my pen,' said Dvořák when he was working on this symphony in the summer of 1889. He had retired to his summer house on the Czech estate of Vysoká, and the idyllic country life inspired him enormously. After a beautiful introduction by the cellos, a mischievous little bird introduces the cheerful character of this symphony, which is full of positive energy.

Nikola Meeuwsen replaces Portuguese master pianist Maria Joäo Pires in this concert, who decided to end her active concert career in early November 2025 due to the consequences of a brain haemorrhage earlier in the year.