Ludwig van Beethoven is a fixture in the career of the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim: “Beethoven’s music is universal, no matter where you are in the world – it speaks to all people.” Before his thirtieth birthday, Barenboim had made legendary recordings of all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and concertos. That said, he has also not shied away from the composer’s less frequently played works, those less liked by audiences and critics alike; on the contrary, he has approached them with great passion.
The legendary Daniel Barenboim, among his countless other accomplishments, is one of the world’s foremost Beethoven experts, having played or conducted just about every note the composer ever wrote. This project - recorded completely during this year’s lockdown - is set to become one of the classical recording events of the year!
The apparently insatiable Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam continues to gobble up standard and not-so-standard Beethoven with this 2009 disc featuring the composer's Fourth Piano Concerto and the piano transcription of his Violin Concerto, a recording that should please fans of the pianist's previous Beethoven recordings. Performing on a modern concert grand rather than the fortepianos he had favored in some earlier releases, Brautigam delivers readings that sparkle in the outer movements, sing in the central movements, and never resort to technical or emotional grandstanding to make their points.
Daniel Barenboim, the universally admired interpreter of Beethoven’s music, is both - pianist and conductor - in these celebrated performances of the Beethoven Piano Concertos. At the Ruhr Piano Festival, Daniel Barenboim performed these compositional masterpieces together with the Staatskapelle Berlin.
In November 2007, Daniel Barenboim completed a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos. Recorded live at the prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr in May 2007, this DVD recording reflects both a very individual and special reading of Beethoven’s music and the artist’s life-long dedication to the composer. Daniel Barenboim is one of the most prolific and high-profile artists performing on international stages today and Beethoven’s masterpieces have been a key part of his repertoire throughout his career, both as conductor and as pianist. Beethoven himself was a keyboard virtuoso of almost awesome abilities who created a sensation wherever he played. It is no wonder, therefore, that the piano was central to Beethoven’s overall output.