Beethoven - The Piano Concertos: Zimerman/LSO/Rattle | Classical album of the week

The Guardian 0

Krystian Zimerman/LSO/Simon Rattle
(Deutsche Grammophon, three CDs)
Rattle conducts Zimerman and a socially distanced London Symphony Orchestra in recordings of clarity and beauty

It is easy to forget now, but 2020 should have been the year of Beethoven, when orchestras and opera companies around the world saturated their seasons with events to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. At the Barbican in London, the climax of the year-long celebration was planned to be a complete cycle of the five piano concertos, with Krystian Zimerman and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle. Covid restrictions prevented those public concerts, but the sessions transferred to the orchestra’s performing space at LSO St Luke’s, from where they were streamed online, and it’s those performances that have now been released on disc by Deutsche Grammophon.

Related: Beethoven: where to start with his music