Now Available: Deutsche Grammophon releases Daniel Barenboim’s newest compete recording of the Beethoven Sonata Cycle & Diabelli Variations.
Barenboim has maintained an intimate relationship with Beethoven throughout his career. Due to the cancellation of public concerts during the coronavirus pandemic, Barenboim launched into a period of deep immersion into the great master’s scores. This unique period culminated in a celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, where Barenboim recorded his fifth full presentation of the Beethoven sonata cycle as well as the Diabelli Variations. Titled 33 Metamorphoses – Complete Piano Sonatas & Diabelli Variations, this album presents Barenboim’s mature vision of these works as a legacy for his contemporaries and future generations.
Of the project, Barenboim notes, “No matter how many times you play them, there are always fresh personal perspectives waiting to be discovered for the performer and for listeners. Beethoven’s sonatas, especially the late works – and the Diabelli Variations too, his last major work for the piano – lift us high above our daily cares and worries to a place where we can begin to see things as they really are, to understand what it truly means to be human.”
October Performances in Berlin
Celebrating Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary