Ahead of VSO Beethoven program, Anne-Marie McDermott reflects on freedom won through discipline

MASTER CONCERT PIANIST Anne-Marie McDermott returns to Vancouver this September, bringing a taste of her upcoming season dedicated to Beethoven’s piano concertos.

The internationally renowned pianist joins the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra from September 19 to 21, led by Maestro Otto Tausk. She will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 4, continuing a series of engagements showcasing McDermott’s long-standing relationship with the Beethoven pieces.

“I’ve lived this repertoire for probably 40 years,” McDermott says over a Zoom call. “I do feel like my personal voice with this repertoire is at a place of real authenticity, because I’ve spent so many years with this music. I have something to say about it. I love to play it as if it had just been written. This is really important to me in recording or in concerts.”

McDermott recently finished a recording of the complete Beethoven concertos in collaboration with Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico City, under music director Carlos Miguel Prieto’s conductorship. With decades of collaborative history between them, McDermott emphasizes the level of trust between her and Prieto, and recounts the “sense of accomplishment” after this large and complex production.

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