Rudolf Buchbinder

Pianomania takes the audience on a humorous journey through the secret world of sound and accompanies Stefan Knüpfer in his extraordinary work with the greatest pianists in the world. To select the instrument that corresponds to the vision of the virtuoso, according it to his desire and accompany him until he goes on stage, Stefan Knüpfer has developed nerves of steel, a boundless passion and above ability to translate words into sounds.

1918. As the roar of the First World War cannons is dying out, in Vienna, the heart of Central Europe, a golden age comes to an end. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is beginning to disintegrate. On the night of October 31st, in the bed of his home, Egon Schiele dies, one of the 20 million deaths caused by the Spanish flu. He dies looking at the invisible evil in the face, in the only he can do: painting it. He is 28 years old. Only a few months earlier, the main hall of the Secession building had welcomed his works: 19 oil paintings and 29 drawings. His first successful exhibition, a celebration of a new painting idea that portrays the restlessness and desires of mankind.A few months earlier, his teacher and friend Gustav Klimt had died. From the turn of the century, he had fundamentally changed the feeling of art and founded a new group: the Secession.

Uto Ughi recounts the life and artistic career of Franz Schubert, performing several of his pieces, including: Rondo in A major, D. 438, for violin and strings, with I Filarmonici di Roma; Sonata for violin and piano “Gran Duo,” Op. 162, with Rudolf Buchbinder; Quartet in D minor, “Death and the Maiden.”

Uto Ughi recounts the life and artistic career of Johannes Brahms, performing several of his pieces, including: Sonata in G major, Op. 78, for violin and piano, with Rudolf Buchbinder; Hungarian Dance No. 17; and Sextet in B-flat major, Op. 18.

Uto Ughi recounts Ludwig van Beethoven, performing: Romance in F major for violin and orchestra, Op. 50, with I Filarmonici di Roma; the Kreutzer Sonata with R. Buchbinder; Sonata Op. 24 in F major with T. Vasary; Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra, Op. 61, with the MMF Orchestra and Maestro Mehta.

After decades of work on Beethoven’s original scores, the Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder offers a definitive interpretation of all of Beethoven’s piano concertos in this series of live recordings of his ecstatically acclaimed performances in the Musikverein in Vienna. Buchbinder conducts the Vienna Philharmonic from the piano and achieves a rare degree of tension and chamber-like concentration. “There is no one else who plays Beethoven with such classical perfection and at such a high level.” Der Kurier, Vienna