May 2026 — In a stunning display of artistic endurance, Rudolf Buchbinder has concluded a monumental tour across Greater China and Taiwan, performing both of Johannes Brahms’s piano concertos in a single evening. Often called the "Mount Everest" of the repertoire, this complete cycle demands nearly two hours of intense labor. Buchbinder chose to present them back-to-back, offering an unbroken narrative of Brahms’s symphonic evolution.

Rooted in his lifelong study of original sources and autographs, Buchbinder’s interpretations bridged the pastoral nobility of the Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major (Op. 83) with the tragic fire of the Concerto No. 1 in D minor (Op. 15). At the pinnacle of his career, Buchbinder continues to scale the greatest heights of the German tradition, proving that his mastery and stamina remain unparalleled on the global stage.

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November 2025 -  Rudolf Buchbinder returned to Art Tower Mito for a spectacular showcase of his signature "Play & Conduct" style. Collaborating with the esteemed Mito Chamber Orchestra (MCO), Buchbinder led the ensemble through a powerful pairing of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor (K. 466) and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major (Op. 58). Utilizing the intimate, hexagonal acoustics of the Concert Hall ATM, the performance was characterized by a rare level of proximity. Every gesture from the keyboard was mirrored by the orchestra, creating a seamless, chamber-like unity. By bridging the gap between Mozart’s operatic drama and Beethoven’s symphonic depth, Buchbinder reminded audiences why he remains the preeminent voice of the First Viennese School.

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Kicking off the 25/26 season, Buchbinder performs with the Orchestre National de France under the baton of principal conductor Cristian Măcelaru. Following a concert at the Auditorium of the Maison de la Radio et de la Musique in Paris, the tour will continue to Bratislava, Prague, to the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, and the Musikverein in Vienna. On the program: Gershwin's Concerto in F!

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Rudolf Buchbinder brings his Schubert cycle to Tokyo. The renowned Spring Festival in Tokyo presents Buchbinder in recital and chamber music featuring the late Impromptus and last Piano Sonata D 960 as well as major chamber music works such as “The Trout” D 667 and both Piano trios.

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Rudolf Buchbinder performs three piano concertos by W. A. Mozart on November 20, 21, and 23, 2024, with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, which he will conduct from the piano. The program includes Mozart's Piano Concertos K 466 and 467, as well as Mozart's last Piano concerto in B-flat major, K 595.

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Rudolf Buchbinder returns to Staatskapelle Dresden with a series of concerts, dedicating himself entirely to Mozart. Leading from the piano, Buchbinder performs a total of six different piano concertos by the composer who plays a central role in Buchbinder's work. Following a concert at the Kulturpalast in Dresden, the tour will continue to Salzburg/Großes Festspielhaus, Regensburg/Audimax, Hamburg/Elbphilharmonie und Essen/Philharmonie.

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Rudolf Buchbinder and the Wiener Musikverein present an exclusive focus on Schubert in the 24/25 season.

21.09.2024 Lieder recital with Jonas Kaufmann | F. Schubert: “Die schöne Müllerin”

07.11.2024 Buchbinder - Hahn - Capuçon | F. Schubert: Piano trios D 898 & D 929

30.01.2025 Buchbinder - Danailova - Landerer - Varga - Bladerer | F. Schubert: Quintet “The Trout” D 667 and others

26.02.2025 Piano recital Buchbinder | F. Schubert: Four Impromptus D 935 & Sonata D 960

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Following his brilliant cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven's complete piano sonatas at the Seoul Arts Center in June-July 2023, Rudolf Buchbinder returns to Korea in June 2024. This time, he is bringing with him the five piano concertos by Beethoven - the composer with whose work Buchbinder is so closely associated. With the cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven's five piano concertos at the Seoul Arts Center, Rudolf Buchbinder follows on from his celebrated sonata cycle. Buchbinder leads the Festival Strings Lucerne from the piano - the piano concertos being performed in the style of great chamber music.

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"It is a pleasure and an honour for me to open the Spring Festival in Tokyo. Congratulations on the 20th anniversary," said Rudolf Buchbinder at the beginning of March 2024. Between 15 and 22 March, he performs Ludwig van Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas on seven nights at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. This is the first Beethoven sonata cycle of Buchbinder for his Japanese audience, and also the first as part of the renowned Spring Festival in Tokyo.

The last two programs featuring the sonatas op. 22, 49/2, 13, 79 & 53 on 21 March and op. 109. 110 & 111 on 22 March are broadcasted live from Tokyo on Stage+ (7:00 pm JST/10:00 pm UST).

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MünchenMusik presents a special Buchbinder cycle with Ludwig van Beethoven's five piano concertos in February and April 2024.

Tue, February 6, 2024 | 8:00 pm, Isarphilharmonie
Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala/Myung-whun Chung/Rudolf Buchbinder
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major op. 58

Fri, February 16, 2024 | 8:00 pm, Isarphilharmonie
Münchner Philharmoniker/Marie Jacquot/Rudolf Buchbinder
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor op. 37

Sun, February 25, 2024 | 8:00 pm, Isarphilharmonie
Luxembourg Philharmonic
Rudolf Buchbinder, conductor and piano
Haydn Piano Concerto in D major Hob. XVIII:11
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major op. 19
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major op. 15

Sat, April 13, 2024 | 7:00 pm, Isarphilharmonie
Philharmonia Orchestra/Santtu-Matias Rouvali/Rudolf Buchbinder
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major op. 73

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At the start of the new year, Buchbinder appears as soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of its chief conductor Jaap van Zweden in four concerts from January 4 to 7, 2024. His highly anticipated return to the NY Phil sees Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 on the program.

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At the beginning of November, Buchbinder returned to China for concerts with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Beethoven’s five piano concertos. He led the Staatskapelle Dresden from the piano in two acclaimed concerts presenting the cycle of all five Beethoven piano concertos in two evening programs at Shenzhen Grand Theatre and Xi'an Concert Hall, respectively.
Shortly after his return from China, Buchbinder ca,e to Dresden for three concerts with Staatskapelle Dresden and Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto under the baton of Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla at Semperoper Dresden.

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Buchbinder is the soloist in Mozart’s piano concerto K. 488 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Opening Week under the direction of principal conductor Andris Nelsons. As part of the BSO Gala, Buchbinder will also join forces with jazz pianist Aaron Diehl: "Tonk" by Duke Ellington for piano four-hands will be heard in a unique setting!
Buchbinder made his debut with the BSO in 1986 and has had a close relationship with the orchestra ever since. He shares a particularly close musical friendship with Andris Nelsons, which is reflected in numerous joint performances by the two.

10/05, 7:30pm / 10/06, 1:30pm // 10/07, 6:00pm Opening Night at Symphony
Symphony Hall, Boston

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The new season takes Buchbinder right back to Asia. In September 2023, he makes a guest appearance with Beethoven's Piano Concertos #4 and #5 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden.

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Buchbinder is world-famous for his towering Beethoven interpretations. Between June 28 and July 9, 2023, he will perform the 32 piano sonatas of the composer, who occupies a central position in Buchbinder's artistic output, for his Korean fans at the Arts Center in Seoul. Returning to Korea with this widely acclaimed Beethoven cycle means a great deal to him personally: „When I think of the Korean audience, it warms my heart: The shared enthusiasm, the deep knowledge of the great masterpieces, the curiosity and openness, the seriousness and joy with which classical music is experienced are intensely felt by me as a performer, and they are a source of inspiration.“

BUCHBINDER:BEETHOVEN - The Complete Piano Sonatas // Seoul Arts Center, Korea
28/30 June; 01/06/07/08/09 July 2023

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A five-week tour takes Rudolf Buchbinder to Taiwan and China from late April to late May 2023. There he will present no fewer than 19 concerts, all dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas. Buchbinder's Beethoven cycle at the NCPA is the first of its kind: never before in the history of this iconic hall has a single pianist performed Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in a cycle there.

BUCHBINDER:BEETHOVEN - The Complete Piano Sonatas // Taipei, National Concert Hall (26 April - 6 May 2023) // Beijing, NCPA (9-17 May 2023) // further recitals in Guangzhou, Nanjing, Xi’an, Changsha and Wuhan, check here.

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Rudolf Buchbinder is on tour with Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. In a total of eight concerts in March 2023, they explore the piano concertos of Robert Schumann and Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto together. After three enthusiastically received concerts at the Palace of Arts in Budapest on March 9, 10 and 11, the tour travels to Berlin (Philharmonie, March 13), Luxembourg (Philharmonie, March 18), Munich (Isarphilharmonie, March 19), Lugano (LAC, March 20) and Paris (Philharmonie, March 21).

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Soirée de Vienne is a declaration of love to Vienna. Rudolf Buchbinder brings together composers who are closely connected with Vienna - like himself. With the selection of pieces, he recreates a good evening party - inspiring, entertaining and always profound. Alongside the Fledermaus Paraphrase by Johann Strauß and the Soirée de Vienne by Schubert-Liszt, there are rarities such as the Kupelwieser Waltz by Franz Schubert or his Military March, set for piano by Otto Tausig. For a long time, Buchbinder presents himself again with works by Frédéric Chopin. The focus is on Franz Schubert's Four Impromptus D899.
"The freedom of the moment, the luxury of intelligent naivety and the curiosity of the moment - all this is what makes music come alive," says Rudolf Buchbinder. The album is a feeling of life poured into sound.

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For three concerts with Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Rudolf Buchbinder returned to the Tonhalle Zurich on October 26, 27 and 28. The venue and orchestra have been close to Buchbinder for decades and are fixed stars in his concert calendar. Buchbinder has a special artistic bond with Paavo Järvi, based on the immediate music-making style and no-frills aesthetic characteristic of both. In Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 4, this was impressively heard and felt. Christian Wildhagen writes in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung that Järvi lets the music speak for itself, as it were, and that its magic arises solely from the coherent realization of the musical text. And further: "In practice, this is much more difficult than it sounds, but in the Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, Järvi had an ideal partner for this in the Beethoven concerto."

One senses the 75-year-old's abundant experience from nearly six decades in the spotlight. And finally, Wildhagen puts it in a nutshell: "But this is more than serenity," he continues: "It is the intellectual freedom, the playful sovereignty and the knowledge of the essentials in the music that make a great performer." (NZZ, 28 Oct 2022)

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Rudolf Buchbinder is on tour in Korea again! Two recitals on June 4 and 5 at the Seoul Arts Center marked the beginning of his ten-day concert tour to Korea. The two finely tuned programs with works by Schubert, Brahms and Beethoven triggered storms of enthusiasm. It is this enthusiasm that Rudolf Buchbinder values so highly in his Korean audiences, combined with the great seriousness and knowledge with which concertgoers of all ages in Korea follow the music. Concerts in Korea are an integral part of Rudolf Buchbinder's annual touring calendar, and meeting his Korean fans is always a special joy for him.

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Focus on Richard Strauss: with the Burlesque for piano and orchestra Rudolf Buchbinder gives a guest performance with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under the baton of Andris Nelsons on May 5 and 6, 2022 and is soloist of the orchestra's touring concerts in London, Vienna, Hamburg and Paris. The Burlesque is particularly close to Rudolf Buchbinder's heart and has accompanied him since his youth. Strauss had intended the virtuoso piece for his mentor Hans von Bülow, who famously said, "A different hand position every bar - do you think I'd sit down for four weeks to study such a barbed piece?"

May 05, 8:00 p.m. | Leipzig, Gewandhaus
May 06, 8:00 p.m. | Leipzig, Gewandhaus
May 10, 7:30 p.m. | London, Barbican Centre
May 25, 7:30 p.m. | Vienna, Musikverein
May 28, 20:00 | Elbphilharmonie
May 30, 20:30 | Paris, Philharmonie

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Alongside the Vienna Philharmonic, Rudolf Buchbinder celebrates his 75th birthday with two festive concerts in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein on 5 and 6 February 2022. Buchbinder and the Vienna Philharmonic, of which he is an honorary member, will present Ludwig van Beethoven's First and Third Piano Concertos as well as Mozart's Quintet for Piano, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn in E-flat Major K. 452.

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Rudolf Buchbinder continues his internationally acclaimed concept program centered on Ludwig van Beethoven's epochal Diabelli Variations op. 120 from 1823. Eleven new Diabelli Variations by Lera Auerbach, Brett Dean, Toshio Hosokawa, Christian Jost, Brad Lubman, Philippe Manoury, Max Richter, Rodion Shchedrin, Johannes Maria Staud, Tan Dun and Jörg Widmann reflect the work into the 21st century. The New Diabelli Variations, commissioned on the initiative of Rudolf Buchbinder by eleven concert halls and festivals around the world and with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation for the Beethoven Year 2020, are now receiving their Spanish premiere in Madrid and their Italian premiere in Milan.

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Rudolf Buchbinder returns to Korea in October 2021 with four solo recitals. The focus will be on Ludwig van Beethoven as well as the Korean premiere of the New Diabelli Variations (2020). After an extensive recital tour in 2019, his return to Korea had to be postponed for a year due to the pandemic. Now he looks forward to meeting his enthusiastic Korean audiences again with great anticipation.

19 October Seoul Arts Center | Beethoven Sonatas op. 27/2, 49/2, 13, 14/2, 53
20 October Seoul Arts Center | The Diabelli Project
21 October Daejeon Arts Center | Beethoven Sonatas op. 27/2, 49/2, 13, 14/2, 53
24 October Daegu Concert House | The Diabelli Project

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For many years, Rudolf Buchbinder's collaboration with the Staatskapelle Dresden has been a matter close to his heart. In the 2010/11 season, at the orchestra's invitation, he became the first “Capell-Virtuos” in the then 462-year history of the Staatskapelle. It was the beginning of a particularly close musical friendship. The intensive music-making with principal conductor Christian Thielemann on the podium and Buchbinder as soloist - most recently documented with the recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto (DGG) - and countless concerts in Germany and abroad with Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist and conductor in personal union are among the highlights of the concert life.
Now Rudolf Buchbinder is perfroming with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden on two consecutive nights at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. On the programme: Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2, 3 and 4 on September 28 and Nos. 1 and 5 on September 29.

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September 3rd, 2021
Rudolf Buchbinder presents all of Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas and piano concertos on Deutsche Grammophon. Both albums are live recordings of his legendary Beethoven cycles of the 32 piano sonatas at the Salzburg Festival and the five piano concertos at the Vienna Musikverein, respectively, with five world-class conductors and orchestras.
"Beethoven has played a central role in my life since childhood, for almost 70 years," he says. "The fact that today I still search and find in his scores, that he challenges, touches, strengthens and teaches me so much every day, amazes and delights me."

Click here for the albums.

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The countdown is on for two benchmark CD releases on September 3, 2021. BUCHBINDER:BEETHOVEN - Deutsche Grammophon dedicates a Beethoven edition to the great pianist, presenting the complete piano sonatas live from the Salzburg Festival as well as the five piano concertos. This is a sonic document to a truly remarkable project. For the first time in its 150-year history, the Vienna Musikverein gave a single pianist, Rudolf Buchbinder, the honor of performing all five Beethoven piano concertos in a specially created cycle throughout the season 2019/20. Buchbinder's partners for this unique setting were the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Gewandhauskapellmeister Andris Nelsons, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Riccardo Muti and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden under their principal conductors Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev and Christian Thielemann.
"These live recordings are the highlights of my life with Beethoven," says Rudolf Buchbinder.

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