Lang Lang to release complete Beethoven piano concerto cycle March 5, with CSO performances March 24–27

The Story

Deutsche Grammophon has announced it will release Lang Lang’s complete set of Ludwig van Beethoven’s five piano concertos on March 5, timed to the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death on March 26.

The recordings were made with conductor Andris Nelsons and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra over six sessions in an empty auditorium last June. The release is set as a three-CD set, with accompanying releases on streaming services and an analog vinyl edition of the “Emperor” concerto.

Lang Lang is also scheduled to play all five concertos over three performances with conductor Paavo Järvi and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from March 24 to 27. A documentary and a concert version of Nos. 3 and 5 are also being released.

Now 44, Lang Lang said his approach reflects the time he took to complete the cycle, comparing his development to “Red wine.” He said the recordings with the Leipzig Gewandhaus had “a very traditional, unique, rich sound,” and described the project as matching “the style of my interpretation.”

Deutsche Grammophon president Clemens Trautmann said Lang Lang’s ability to reach broader audiences comes “not only through collaborations with artists from other spaces, but also just through the power of his artistry,” adding that he is “the household name for the global piano community.” Trautmann also called the decision to centre the Beethoven anniversary around Lang Lang’s recordings “a natural choice.”

The first release in the cycle came years earlier: Lang Lang recorded Nos. 1 and 4 in 2007 with Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris at Salle Pleyel, a pairing that earned his only Grammy nomination. Lang Lang credited Eschenbach with sparking “the imagination, the creativities and also the mood of the sound of the interpretation.”

Lang Lang said he feels “much more mature” to play the full Beethoven cycle after recording Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” in 2020, and he linked that work to changes in how he thinks about creating sound, particularly “for the slower passages and also with the sixteenth notes.”

He also referenced a pause in his playing in connection with tendinitis while trying to learn Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.” Lang Lang later said the “Goldberg Variations” had a “profound impact” on his thinking about sound.

Lang Lang has described Daniel Barenboim as his favourite Beethoven performer, comparing Barenboim’s approach to that of Schnabel and Wilhelm Furtwängler and calling it “very solid, very deep, very struggling.” Lang Lang said working with Barenboim brings “a lot of the elegancy of Beethoven” along with an “ideal, logical way” to make sound through proper hand posture.

Earlier career moments also shaped Lang Lang’s path to the Beethoven project. He was born in 1982 in Shenyang, China, won competitions in Beijing and Germany, and finished first in the 1995 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. In 1999, he replaced André Watts at the Ravinia Festival, playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Eschenbach leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and later gave a private performance at Carnegie Hall for music executives.

Matías Tarnopolsky, then the CSO’s senior director of programming, described that Carnegie Hall private performance as “absolutely captivating,” saying there was “such a refreshing spontaneity” and “immediate connection” between the artist and his audience.

Lang Lang has performed at Carnegie Hall multiple times, including opening the season in 2010, 2017 and 2024, and he has been involved with the hall’s music education events. Carnegie Hall artistic director Clive Gillinson said the timing of the Beethoven recordings reflects growth, noting that when artists are younger, “the talent dazzles,” but that “what is most important” is that they keep demanding more of themselves and continue to grow.