The American pianist on rage, bizarreness and “good cop/bad cop” in Beethoven.

You’re most often associated with Beethoven. What attracts you to his music more than, say, Rachmaninov’s?

Well I love Rachmaninov, but I just don’t think it suits me as well as other repertoire. I have learnt the concertos, but I haven’t really played them enough to feel comfortable performing them. Schumann, Beethoven and Brahms – somehow they’re wired into me. I don’t know whether people necessarily like the way I play these works, but I feel comfortable, which is what counts. 

How does playing late Beethoven differ from playing early Beethoven?

I fell in love with late Beethoven when I was 20 after hearing the string quartets. The thing about this music is that it’s so often detached from reality. There’s bizarreness to it. The rage in the Diabelli Variations, for example, is different from the rage you have in the Apassionata Sonata. It’s more philosophical and slightly less earth-bound. Late Beethoven has an incredible tenderness, but it’s a divine tenderness, like there is someone in the room with their hands on your shoulder. 

Your teacher Dame Myra Hess encouraged your early interest in...