The first of the three albums, 'Encores', is out on Deutsche Grammophon on 25 March 2022
In celebration of his 80th birthday this year, piano legend Daniel Barenboim will release three separate albums across the year. He's also set to give two concerts on the DG stage.
The first album 'Encores' will be released on 25 March, Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte on 29 July, and Schumann's four symphonies on 7 October.
The celebrations of Barenboim's birthday, which is on 15 November, started on 31 December 2021 with the release of an e-single of Debussy’s Clair de lune, which forms one of the highlights of the upcoming 'Encores' album.
“I am grateful that Deutsche Grammophon has chosen to mark the year of my 80th birthday with recent performances as well as an album made during my early years with the label,” comments Barenboim.
“I believe these recordings show how music exists as a world in itself, never the same twice, always changing, no matter how many times we perform a particular composition. This is the great privilege of being a musician, the chance to learn new things every time we play the same piece. And it’s a further privilege to be able to share this experience with audiences.”
'Encores' features miniature masterpieces by Albéniz, Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Schubert and Schumann. These six composers, long close to Barenboim’s heart, give an idea of the sheer variety of his vast repertoire, and each piece is conveyed in his inimitably idiomatic and communicative style.
The first of Barenboim's two DG concerts will take place on 14 January, where he will be joined by childhood friend Martha Argerich. Their programme of piano duos will be followed on 21 January by a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto given to mark the 20th anniversary of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra – the groundbreaking ensemble the maestro co-founded with Edward Said in 1999 to promote intercultural dialogue. Barenboim is joined by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma as he directs the orchestra from the piano.
Find out more about the releases here.
