Lang Lang announces first complete Beethoven concerto recording

Lang Lang has announced his first complete recording of Beethoven’s five piano concertos, a project with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and conductor Andris Nelsons. Deutsche Grammophon revealed the cycle on November 13. The full album, “Beethoven · The Piano Concertos,” is scheduled for March 5, 2027, so it is not yet a released album.

There is something to hear now, however: the label says the slow movement of the Fifth Piano Concerto, the “Emperor,” is available to stream from November 13, alongside a performance video. Further excerpts are scheduled over the coming months. The release plan includes digital, three-CD and five-LP editions, with an additional limited all-analogue edition of the Fifth Concerto.

Lang Lang recorded the cycle with an orchestra whose Beethoven association reaches back to the composer’s era. The set also includes solo works: the Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major and transcriptions of music from Beethoven’s Seventh and Ninth symphonies. For a listener new to the concertos, the immediately available “Emperor” movement offers a way into the project without mistaking a preview for the full set.

The timing is deliberate. The album is due weeks before the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death on March 26, 2027. The label also describes related concerts across Europe and North America during the 2026–27 season, including performances in Boston and Chicago. Those live dates are plans, and ticket details should be checked with the presenting orchestras before travel.

The announcement is a substantial addition to Lang Lang’s recorded Beethoven catalogue: he had previously recorded individual concertos, but not a complete cycle. This page’s image is an older file photograph of the pianist, not a photograph of the new recording sessions.