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Back to Beethoven... with all the piano concertos...

British pianist Paul Lewis, one of today's leading Beethoven interpreters, plays all five Beethoven piano concertos in four concerts during the season, with four of the concertos televised on ±«Óãtv Four.

Paul Lewis says: "To perform all the Beethoven concertos is a major undertaking for any pianist, but playing these endlessly varied masterpieces at the Proms is one of the most formidable and exciting challenges I can imagine."

He plays the concertos with the ±«Óãtv Symphony Orchestra and Jirí Belohlávek (21 July), the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons (29 July), the Hallé and Sir Mark Elder (6 August) and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Stéphane Denève (6 September).

...And the return of the Beethoven Night

The once-popular Proms tradition of the Beethoven Night is back in 2010, with two evenings devoted to the music of Beethoven, and extensive Beethoven programming on ±«Óãtv Four.

Jirí Belohlávek conducts the ±«Óãtv Symphony Orchestra in the Egmont and The Creatures Of Prometheus overtures, as well as Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 with Paul Lewis (21 July), while Paavo Järvi conducts the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5 and the Violin Concerto with soloist Hilary Hahn (27 July).