Lang Lang Unveils His First Complete Recording of the Beethoven Piano Concertos
A Stellar Collaboration with the Gewandhausorchester and Andris Nelsons
Marking the Beethoven Bicentenary in 2027
“With time, I’ve learned to hear beneath the surface – to understand how
every detail contributes to Beethoven’s larger musical architecture.”
Lang Lang
Deutsche Grammophon releases Beethoven · The Piano Concertos,
featuring all five concertos alongside the Piano Sonata No. 31, Op. 110 and
transcriptions of the Allegretto from the Seventh and the “Ode to Joy” from the Ninth Symphony
The album will be available digitally and as a 3-CD and 5-LP set on 5 March 2027
A special all-analogue recording of the Fifth Piano Concerto offers a rare opportunity
to experience the same performance through two different recording technologies –
the limited edition LP is paired with the digital version of the “Emperor” on CD
Lang Lang will tour the complete concertos and the Sonata, Op. 110 worldwide in 2026–27
Fulfilling a long-held dream, Lang Lang has recorded his first complete cycle of the Beethoven piano concertos. The Deutsche Grammophon album captures his current understanding of these five timeless masterpieces – an understanding deepened by years of study, performance experience, and the insights into Beethoven’s musical language he has gained from other great musicians. The world-renowned pianist is joined here by Andris Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester, an ensemble whose close connections with Beethoven’s music date back to the composer’s own lifetime. Also featuring three solo performances from Lang Lang, the album is a key part of DG’s wider plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death in 1827. It arrives on 5 March 2027, a few weeks ahead of the bicentenary on 26 March.
Beethoven · The Piano Concertos will be issued digitally, on CD (3 discs) and as a limited vinyl edition (5 LPs), while various collector’s editions will include art cards signed by Lang Lang. A Pure Analogue (AAA) version of Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”, will also be available on 5 March 2027, as a limited edition vinyl LP. The slow movement from the “Emperor” will be available to stream digitally, alongside a performance video, on 13 November 2026. This will be followed by the solo transcription of the “Ode to Joy” from the Ninth Symphony on 11 December; the opening movement of Piano Sonata No. 31 on 15 January 2027; and the finale of Concerto No. 3, again alongside a performance video, on 12 February. This DG project also includes a concert film featuring the artists’ performances of Concertos Nos. 3 and 5, as captured in Leipzig, and a short documentary for YouTube, both to be released at a future date.
Lang Lang began learning Beethoven’s concertos in his teens. Having incorporated them into his concert repertoire in the early years of his career, he recorded Nos. 1 and 4 for DG two decades ago. In addition to performing the five works live many times since then, he has also discussed Beethoven’s music in depth with specialists such as Christoph Eschenbach, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Daniel Barenboim. With plans in place to tour the concertos for the bicentenary, he felt the time was right to make his first recording of the full cycle. “You need to be more mature, to have more experience of life,” he says, “to understand Beethoven’s music more clearly.”
He is full of praise for Nelsons and his orchestra: “The Gewandhausorchester have preserved their unique Beethoven sound, which I love, but they’re so open to new ideas,” he notes. “I was deeply moved when we started work because it felt like they were coming fresh to this music. And Andris gave me everything: his knowledge, his love, his passion, his great friendship.”
Speaking about the sessions, Nelsons says, “The Gewandhausorchester’s rich, colourful and energetic sound combined so beautifully with Lang Lang’s technical brilliance and musical warmth and imagination. Recording together was a harmonious and exciting process, during which the many facets and possibilities of this music of such extraordinary genius inspired us afresh every day.”
As part of the project, Piano Concerto No. 5 was recorded with both digital and analogue technology – the limited edition AAA LP is accompanied by the digital version on CD, allowing listeners to compare the two. For the analogue recording, sound engineer Rainer Maillard (Emil Berliner Studios) used just seven microphones, amplified through vintage Siemens V72 tube microphone preamplifiers, to record direct to magnetic tape. The results were then edited the old-fashioned way, using scissors and adhesive tape. Lang Lang appreciates both approaches: “With digital technology, you feel more vibration, more colours, a greater dynamic range. But analogue gives you greater directness and perhaps a richer sound.”
The album also includes three solo performances. Lang Lang played Beethoven’s penultimate piano sonata, Op. 110 in A flat major, when auditioning for the Curtis Institute of Music and the work therefore has a significant place in his own musical history. Alongside this he has recorded transcriptions (by Asiya Korepanova and Peter Schindler respectively) of the Allegretto from Symphony No. 7, a particular favourite of his, and the “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9.
The Op. 110 Sonata features in Lang Lang’s recital repertoire this season, with performances in Europe (November/December 2026, April-June 2027) and in North America, culminating at Carnegie Hall (April). In March, he plays Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston, London, Hamburg and Paris, and gives a full cycle with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Järvi in Chicago. He performs Nos. 3–5 with Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester during the orchestra’s Beethoven Festival 2027 in Leipzig (May) and then in Riga, Paris, London, Bonn, Hamburg, Essen and Düsseldorf (May/June). Full touring details here.
