Ignaz von Seifert, Beethoven’s page-turner at the 1803 premiere of his Third Piano Concerto, recalled that, much to his dismay: “I saw almost nothing but empty leaves… [Beethoven] played nearly all the solo part from memory since, as was so often the case, he had not had time to set it all down on paper.” As often as Seifert’s anecdote is related in liner notes, Beethoven’s under-the-wire urgency and nervy, free-wheeling spirit rarely translates in performance with the viscerality of Kristian Bezuidenhout’s 2022 recording. Performed on a replica 1824 fortepiano, the South African fortepianist improvises with dextrous bravura, matched with ride-or-die commitment by conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and the sonorous period instruments of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.