Daniel Barenboim / Michael Barenboim / Yulia Deyneka / Kian Soltani MOZART Piano Quartets

Daniel Barenboim has signed a new and exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

He will work with the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Staatsoper unter den Linden, the Boulez Ensemble and members of the Barenboim-Said Akademie, with many recording sessions taking place in the the Boulez Saal.

DG will develop three distinct recording series, focusing on Barenboim as pianist and conductor, chamber musician, and ‘educator and innovator’. The latter will take the form of digital-only releases on Barenboim’s own label, Peral Music, and will be complemented by social media campaigns, a strong YouTube presence and programmes for children’s television; Barenboim will appear as a character in Max & Maestro, a 52-part cartoon series co-produced by RAI, France Television and ARD-HR, in which he introduces 11-year-old rapper Max to classical music.

Two physical albums are set for release this summer: a Brahms symphony cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin, and Mozart’s two piano quartets with Michael Barenboim, Kian Soltani and Yulia Deyneka.

Future albums include Dvořák’s cello concerto with Kian Soltani and the Staatskapelle Berlin, and Smetana’s Má Vlast with the Wiener Philharmoniker. There are also plans to mark Beethoven’s 250th anniversary in 2020 with major releases featuring such leading artists as Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma.

Barenboim said he believed the new relationship would help to introduce ‘the philosophy of the Pierre Boulez Saal, with its vision of the “thinking ear” and of active, engaged listening, to a large new audience.’