Pianist Daniel Barenboim Announces Release of New Albums Today

Daniel Barenboim, known around the world for his work as both a pianist and a conductor, has entered into a far reaching affiliation with Deutsche Grammophon and Decca and will record and release a number of albums over time. The first two releases, both on Deutsche Grammophon and both showcasing Barenboim as pianist, focus on Chopin and are available today, May 3, 2011.

Early in April Barenboim captivated London with a surprise concert and talk at the Tate Modern. "The standing ovation began before Daniel Barenboim had played a note," reported The Guardian. A crowd of 1,100 who had only learned of the impromptu event three days earlier gathered to hear the great artist and humanitarian as he celebrated 60 years of performing with an all-Chopin recital in Tate Modern's cavernous Turbine Hall. 8,000 people had applied for the 400 seats while 700 more watched a live relay in the hall below, where an installation by the detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is on show.

Today, Barenboim made history again as he and 25 musicians from leading orchestras in Europe performed in Gaza, the first concert by an international classical ensemble in the coastal territory. With musicians from the Staatskapelle Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and Orchestra of La Scala di Milano, Maestro Barenboim gave a concert of Mozart works at the Al Mathaf Cultural House, Gaza.

Barenboim has long been an advocate of peace through music. In 1999, he founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) with the late literary critic, Edward Said. The orchestra brings together young musicians from the Middle East and has found a permanent home in Seville, Spain since 2002. The ensemble has traveled the world and performed at important events, including a farewell concert at the United Nations for outgoing Secretary General Kofi Annan. Universal's next release with Barenboim will come from Decca on June 7th and feature the conductor and WEDO in performances of works by Tchaikovsky and Schoenberg.

These events coincide with the US release of Barenboim's two all-Chopin albums on Deutsche Grammophon. The first release, Daniel Barenboim Plays Chopin: The Warsaw Recital, is a live recording from 2010 in which Barenboim performs a selection of the composer's beloved works for solo piano including the Sonata in B flat minor, waltzes, a fantasia, nocturne, barcarolle, berceuse and polonaise.

The other release, The Chopin Concertos, features Barenboim at the piano with Andris Nelsons conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin in a live recording from July 2010. Barenboim has performed Chopin throughout his career, so when asked why record more he replies: "It's one of the greatest adventures in music that we play the same pieces again and again - and that, despite their constant repetition, they sound different every time...Repetition and uniqueness - this is the dialectic secret of our art." Barenboim joins his home orchestra as soloist rather than conductor for this recording.

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