Beethoven Piano Competition's Hybrid Approach Sets New Standards

I always thought Christa Ludwig was the greatest Brahms singer, but she was until I heard her sing Strauss. Again, I had to assign her a new throne. Then I heard her sing Wagner, and again I experienced the same thing. And when I heard her sing Wagner, and again I experienced the same thing. And when I heard her recently, with her incredible interpretation of the Old Lady in my musical "Candide", I had to give up. She is simply the best! (Leonard Bernstein)

I try to write music that expresses what I am thinking, feeling ... and am. Or the opposite".

Beatrice Berrut's very internalized and expressive playing interweaves wonderfully with Franz Liszt's late work, which soberly and suggestively at the same time, opened the way to modernity.

Two great artists, pianist András Schiff and composer/clarinettist Jörg Widmann, join forces for the first time on record, performing Brahms’s late masterpieces, the clarinet sonatas op. 120, written in 1894. In between the sonatas Schiff plays Widmann’s evocative Intermezzi for piano. As Jörg Widmann explains in a programme note, these are works inspired by his friendship with András Schiff and by a shared love of Brahms, to whom they pay tribute. The album was recorded at Neumarkt’s Historischer Reitstadel.

One might easily realize that most of the well-known composers of the romantic era had not composed much for the flute. To ease the sadness as a flutist, I've been performing works from the Romantic era written for other instruments since my teenage years and many of which are now considered as standard flute repertoire.

Stephen Hough had decided to record the complete Beethoven piano concertos live across two concerts, but plans soon changed ...

Beethoven is everywhere - especially in Vienna. He composed all of his masterpieces here, 1 opera, 5 piano concertos, 9 symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, and much more and thereby cemented Vienna’s position as the musical centre of Europe. Today, Beethoven is the most frequently played composer in the world and his Ninth Symphony is the most frequently performed work worldwide. He led music of the Viennese Classical era to its highest degree of development and paved the way toward Romanticism in music.

For his 250th birthday, Bösendorfer honours this great composer with a Limited Edition Grand Piano.

Canadian Rapper Drake, had the designer and architect Ferris Rafauli build an exclusive mansion in his hometown of Toronto. Ferris Rafauli and the Japanese designer Takashi Murakami together designed an extravagant Bösendorfer Concert Grand 280VC. Drake’s new music video “Drake - Toosie Slide” was filmed on his luxury property and reached over 12 million viewers within 3 days.

22-year-old Elisabeth Waglechner from Vienna wins not only the 1st prize but also the audience and special prize in the piano category.