Rudolf Buchbinder is one of the legendary performers of our time. The authority of a career spanning more than 60 years is uniquely combined with esprit and spontaneity in his piano playing. Tradition and innovation, faithfulness and freedom, authenticity, and open-mindedness merge in his reading of the great piano literature. Buchbinder is an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the first soloist to be awarded the Golden Badge of Honor by the Staatskapelle Dresden.

His interpretations of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven are regarded as setting standards. Buchbinder was the first pianist to play all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas within one festival summer at the 2014 Salzburg Festival. The Salzburg cycle was recorded live for DVD and CD. The sensational cycle of Beethoven’s five piano concertos came about during the 2019/20 concert season at the Vienna Musikverein. In celebration of its 150th anniversary, the Vienna Musikverein, for the first time in its history, gave a single pianist, Buchbinder, the honor of performing all piano concertos by Beethoven in a specially created series. Buchbinder’s partners in this unprecedented constellation were the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev and Christian Thielemann. As a contribution to the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Buchbinder initiated a cycle of new Diabelli Variations. Following the genesis of Beethoven’s epochal Diabelli Variations op. 120, Buchbinder succeeded in enlisting eleven leading contemporary composers of different generations.

With his new album “Soirée de Vienne”, Buchbinder relates to a Viennese evening society and brings together composers who are closely connected with Vienna – like himself. Buchbinder attaches great importance to source research. His private collection of sheet music includes 39 different editions of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas.