Rudolf Buchbinder counts as one of the legendary musicians of our time. He is frequently invited to perform with the world’s leading orchestras and at some of its greatest festivals. Tradition and innovation, fidelity to the work and freedom, authenticity and global openness in equal measure merge in Buchbinder’s interpretations of the great piano works. His repertoire is as extensive as it is diverse and has been impressively documented in over 100 recordings. In particular, Buchbinder’s performances of works by Ludwig van Beethoven are considered a benchmark. On the occasion of Beethoven’s 150th anniversary, the Wiener Musikverein gave a single pianist – Rudolf Buchbinder – the honour of performing all five Beethoven piano concertos in a specially-produced series – a first in the history of this world famous hall.

As a contribution to the 2020 Beethoven Year and following the genesis of Beethoven’s epochal Diabelli Variations op. 120, Rudolf Buchbinder commissioned a cycle of new Diabelli Variations from the pen of eleven leading contemporary composers including Auerbach, Dean, Hosokawa, Staud and Widmann. He has so far performed this new work in 20 cities around the world.

Rudolf Buchbinder is also an honorary member of the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft, the Wiener Symphoniker and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the first soloist to have been awarded the Golden Badge of Honour by the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxony). As Artistic Director, this pianist is responsible for the Grafenegg Festival which has been one of the most influential orchestral festivals in Europe since its inception in 2007.

Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has been Artistic Director of The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen, his only German orchestra, since 2004. One highlight of the collaboration were the celebrated concerts of the Beethoven cycle, which received critical acclaim worldwide. Järvi received numerous awards for the recordings, including the ›Echo Klassik‹ as ›Conductor of the Year‹ and the prestigious ›Annual Prize of the German Record Critics‹.

Following the Beethoven project, he and the orchestra tackled the symphonic works of Schumann and Brahms, which received similarly enthusiastic reviews. Paavo Järvi is also Principal Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Advisor to the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the Järvi Summer Festival in Pärnu, Estonia, and since 2019/20 Artistic Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He regularly makes appearances as guest conductor with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, the Staatskappelle Dresden and the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago and the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, he was named ›Artist of the Year‹ by the renowned British magazine Gramophone and the French magazine Diapason. In 2019, he received the ›Opus Klassik‹ as ›Conductor of the Year‹.