LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Krystian Zimerman, Sir Simon Rattle, and Ludwig van Beethoven: three exceptional musicians and five great piano concertos are brought together for a landmark recording. This release is among the highlights to conclude our Beethoven anniversary celebrations. 

Over 30 years ago, in 1989, Krystian Zimerman and Leonard Bernstein recorded Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4 and 5. They were united in their total dedication to music – in mind, heart and soul – resulting in an exceptional recording. Sadly, Bernstein died before the cycle was recorded in completion. Zimerman went on to conduct the remaining Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 from the keyboard in 1991. Now, 30 years after his first recordings, Zimerman returns to Beethoven’s Piano Concertos. He offers an exceptional new interpretation recorded with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Recording all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos during the pandemic was “like chamber music on a great scale“, as Krystian Zimerman tells Apple Music. Read on in the editor’s notes and listen to this album in Apple Music. 

The album is available for download & streaming (including in Dolby Atmos), as a 3-CD digipack, 5-LP vinyl box, and as an exclusive and limited edition of the 5-LP vinyl-box with a signed booklet by Krystian Zimerman.