Ludwig van Beethoven remains among the most influential and admired composers of all time. Marking the 250th anniversary year in 2020, Sony Classical is pleased to release Beethoven: Legendary Recordings.

The cornerstone of Beethoven’s output is his nine Symphonies, from the elegant First, through the groundbreaking Third (“Eroica”) and Fifth, to the revolutionary “Choral” Symphony including the “Ode to Joy”, beloved worldwide as a symbol of freedom. This set combines legendary recordings of the complete symphonies, from artists including The Cleveland Orchestra with George Szell, the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Fritz Reiner, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Charles Munch, who perform the Ninth alongside vocal soloists of the calibre of Leontyne Price and Maureen Forrester.

Beethoven’s five Piano Concertos are played here by pianist legends Arthur Rubinstein, Leon Fleisher and Glenn Gould, and the Violin Concerto by the unrivalled Jascha Heifetz. The renowned trio of Isaac Stern (violin), Leonard Rose (cello) and Eugene Istomin (piano) perform both the Triple Concerto and several Piano Trios, including the beautiful “Archduke”. Zino Francescatti and Robert Casadesus play violin sonatas, while Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax’s acclaimed partnership is heard in two cello sonatas.

The string quartet was another form that Beethoven revolutionized, in seventeen career-spanning works. Some of his finest quartets, including the late C sharp minor, op.131, are among those included here at the hands of the Tokyo, Juilliard and Budapest String Quartets. A wide selection of piano sonatas is included in classic recordings, from Murray Perahia’s “Les Adieux” to Vladimir Horowitz’s “Waldstein” and Rudolf Serkin’s “Moonlight”, “Appassionata” and “Pathétique”. The monumental Diabelli Variations are here in a highly acclaimed contemporary recording: Igor Levit’s prize-winning interpretation, first released in 2016.

The set culminates in Beethoven’s legendary sacred work, the Missa solemnis, in a new remastering of Leonard Bernstein’s 1960 recording with the New York Philharmonic: music written, according to its composer, “From the heart – may it return to the heart!” It is a fitting conclusion to a celebration of a composer whose music still touches our hearts, 250 years after his birth.