Pianist Lang Lang to release a full set of Beethoven concertos

Star Chinese pianist Lang Lang (郎朗) needed more than a quarter-century on classical music’s touring circuit before he felt ready to record all five Ludwig van Beethoven piano concertos.

“I’ve become a little bit older,” he said, searching aloud for a metaphor describing his development. “Red wine.”

Deutsche Grammophon on Friday announced it is releasing Lang Lang’s interpretations on March 5, taken from recordings with conductor Andris Nelsons and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra over six sessions in an empty auditorium last June.

The album cover of “Beethoven — The Piano Concertos” by Lang Lang.

Photo: Deutsche Grammophon via AP

Timed to align with the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death (March 26), a three-CD set will be distributed along with releases on streaming services and an analog vinyl version of the Emperor concerto.

Lang Lang is scheduled to play all five concertos over three performances with Paavo Jarvi and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from March 24 to 27. A documentary and concert version of Piano Concerto No. 3 and 5 also are being released.

Now 44, Lang Lang is a rare classical musician with crossover appeal to pop fans through collaborations with Sting, Metallica, Ed Sheeran, Herbie Hancock and Pharrell Williams.

Lang Lang recorded Piano Concerto No. 1 and 4 in 2007 with conductor Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, earning the pianist his Grammy nomination.

“I feel much more mature to play the Beethoven cycle especially after the recording of the Goldberg Variations,” he said, referencing his 2020 recording of the Johann Sebastian Bach composition.

The Goldberg Variations had a profound impact, Lang Lang said, adding: “That really changed many of my kind of thinking of creating the sound, especially for the slower passages and also with the sixteenth notes.”

Lang Lang made his public Carnegie Hall debut in 2001, had a much-hyped solo recital there in 2003. The performance received a harsh review from then-New York Times chief classical music critic Anthony Tommasini.

“For all its color, flair and energy, his playing was often incoherent, self-indulgent and slam-bang crass,” he wrote. “Mr. Lang’s head seems to be so full of his own hype that there can’t be much room left for analytic thinking.”

“People can write whatever they feel [is] right, and you can play whatever you feel [is] right,” he said. “This is the freedom of art, for our artistic interpretations.”