Concerto for Piano and Orchestra 'Only Through Time Time is Conquered'

„Each work is a being with its own life, surprises, mysteries and destiny. This piano concerto has one of the most unusual histories of my catalog. It has haunted me for over 20 years – half of my life. (…)
Now, 20 years since its first performance, I had the chance to return to this material. I thought it would be a simple and straightforward process: Equipped with the experience and perspective of the last twenty years I would just fix anything that needed fixing in orchestration or form. How difficult could that be? I was wrong. Facing this music again was facing my own demons, facing my old fears, memories, facing myself. It was much more difficult than writing a completely new work from the beginning. I was no longer that 14-year-old who dreamt up the second movement, nor was I the 22-year-old student performing this piece with an orchestra for the first time; nor an ambitious 28-year-old graduating with this work in Hanover. I'm a different person now, in a different stage of life. At the same time, something very essential in me remains as a defining leitmotif. I realized that I needed to approach this concerto anew, rewrite it freely. I needed to dangerously balance on a double edge sword – being true to the person I am now and at the same time not betraying the person I was 20 years ago. (…)” (Lera Auerbach)