Experience Daniel Barenboim in his landmark performances of Beethoven’s piano concertos, filmed live at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2007. Here Barenboim plays and conducts Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Daniel Barenboim is one of the greatest living experts of Beethoven’s music: he has performed his works countless times in concert, has recorded the entirety of the 32 piano sonatas twice (for EMI and Deutsche Grammophon), and the five piano concertos several times, once under the baton of Otto Klemperer, and again as conductor-pianist with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
In May 2007, Barenboim performed Beethoven’s five piano concertos at the Ruhr Piano Festival, conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin from the piano. One of the oldest orchestras in the world, the Staatskapelle’s dark, warm sound perfectly matches Beethoven’s music, supporting Barenboim’s own elegant and heartfelt performance. Composed between 1795 and 1808, these concertos are touchstones of the piano repertoire and testify to Beethoven’s own prowess on the instrument. Like the nine symphonies and 32 piano sonatas, Beethoven’s piano concertos are at the core of his œuvre, with the most famous being the so-called “Emperor Concerto”, the Fifth. Enjoy each and every one of them performed here by one of their greatest interpreters!
