Star Chinese pianist Lang Lang needed more than a quarter-century on classical music's touring circuit before he felt ready to record all five Ludwig van Beethoven piano concertos.
“I've become a little bit older,” he says, searching aloud for a metaphor describing his development. “Red wine.”
Deutsche Grammophon announced Friday it is releasing Lang Lang's interpretations on March 5, taken from recordings with conductor Andris Nelsons and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra over six sessions in an empty auditorium last June.
Timed to align with the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death (March 26), a three-CD set will be distributed along with releases on streaming services and an analog vinyl version of the “Emperor” concerto, which the Gewandhaus premiered in 1811.
Lang Lang is scheduled to play all five concertos over three performances with Paavo Järvi and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from March 24-27. A documentary and concert version of Nos. 3 and 5 also are being released.
Now 44, Lang Lang is a rare classical musician with crossover appeal to pop fans through collaborations with Sting, Metallica, Ed Sheeran, Herbie Hancock and Pharrell Williams. A 2016 recording covered Jay-Z's “Empire State of Mind” and the Eagles' “New York Minute.” Lang Lang was featured during the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics and this year's Winter Olympics.
“He manages to reach out to much broader audiences, not only through collaborations with artists from other spaces, but also just through the power of his artistry,” DG president Clemens Trautmann says. “He is the household name for the global piano community.”
Lang Lang became friends with Nelsons when they recorded Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in 2023.
“I felt that the Leipzig Gewandhaus has a very traditional, unique, rich sound,” he said during a recent Zoom interview between performances in Germany. “This is the project and the way I play, the style of my interpretation.”
Lang Lang's recordings will compete with well-regarded versions by Alfred Brendel, Leon Fleisher, Artur Rubinstein and Artur Schnabel.
“It’s kind of a natural choice for being the centerpiece of the Beethoven anniversary,” Trautmann says.
Lang Lang recorded Nos. 1 and 4 in 2007 with conductor Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris at the Salle Pleyel, earning the pianist his only Grammy nomination. He credited Eschenbach for sparking “the imagination, the creativities and also the mood of the sound of the interpretation.”
“There are some similarities between the recordings, but there are also quite different interpretations,” Lang Lang says. “I feel much more mature to play the Beethoven cycle especially after the recording of the ‘Goldberg Variations,'” referencing his 2020 recording of the famous Johann Sebastian Bach composition.
That recording was made three years after Lang Lang canceled several months of appearances when he developed tendinitis while trying to learn Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.” The “Goldberg Variations” had a profound impact.
“That really changed many of my kind of thinking of creating the sound, especially for the slower passages and also with the sixteenth notes,” he says.
Lang Lang’s favorite Beethoven piano performances are by Daniel Barenboim. He compares Barenboim’s style to that of Schnabel and Wilhelm Furtwängler.
“Very solid, very deep, very struggling,” Lang Lang says. “When we work together, he also brings a lot of the elegancy of Beethoven and also the ideal, logical way to make the sound work from the right posture of (the) hand.”
Born in 1982, in Shenyang, China, Lang Lang won competitions in Beijing and Germany, then finished first in the 1995 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. He studied at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and gained attention in 1999 when he replaced André Watts at the Ravinia Festival, playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Eschenbach leading the CSO.
In 1999, Lang Lang also had a private performance at Carnegie Hall for music executives.
“It was absolutely captivating. There was such a refreshing spontaneity about him and great joy in the music making,” says New York Philharmonic president Matías Tarnopolsky, then the CSO's senior director of programming. “We got to meet him and talk to him afterward and it was this immediate connection; the human being and the artist were very much in sync.”
Lang Lang made his public Carnegie Hall debut in 2001 and had a much-hyped solo recital there in 2003, recorded by DG. The performance received a harsh review from Anthony Tommasini, then chief classical music critic of The New York Times.
“For all its color, flair and energy, his playing was often incoherent, self-indulgent and slam-bang crass,” he wrote. “Mr. Lang’s head seems to be so full of his own hype that there can’t be much room left for analytic thinking.”
“People can write whatever they feel (is) right, and you can play whatever you feel (is) right,” Lang Lang says. “This is the freedom of art, for our artistic interpretations.”
Lang Lang has returned to Carnegie Hall many times, opening the season in 2010, 2017 and 2024. His foundation has held Young Scholars’ finals concerts there and he is a frequent partner with the hall’s music education events.
Carnegie Hall artistic director Clive Gillinson feels the timing of Lang Lang's Beethoven concertos is significant.
“When people are younger, the talent dazzles. What is most important with an artist is they continue to demand more of themselves and that they keep trying to grow and develop,” Gillinson says. “A lot of people rush into these things. I think the fact that for the first time he’s recording them all is a huge tribute to his humility.”
FILE - Chinese pianist Lang Lang bows after performing at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on Oct. 3. 2023. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
FILE - Chinese pianist Lang Lang performs during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers face Joe Burrow and the Bengals with first place in the AFC North at stake.
The Sunday night matchup is the only primetime game in Week 9 featuring two winning teams.
Rodgers outplayed Burrow in Pittsburgh’s 30-27 victory in Week 3. The Steelers (6-2) have won four straight and are coming off a bye. The Bengals (6-2) also have won four in a row and are back after a trip to Spain, where they beat Atlanta.
That’s an advantage for Pittsburgh.
Burrow is 4-4 in his career against the Steelers.
The Bengals are 3½-point favorites. Pro Picks sees a close game after kicking off the week with a loss when the Commanders beat the Giants 24-21 on Thursday night.
BENGALS: 24-23
Line: Lions minus 2½
Drake Maye and Christian Gonzalez struggled in a lopsided loss at home to Green Bay. The Patriots need their QB and star cornerback to play well to have a chance against Detroit. Jared Goff’s streak of 30 consecutive regular-season games with at least one TD pass ended last week in a win at Miami. The Lions have won five straight games after a 1-2 start.
LIONS: 26-22
Line: Bills minus 8½
Buffalo has won five straight in this series and 10 of 12 since 2020. Josh Allen has 21 TDs combined passing and rushing this season. The Bills have played much better defense the past two weeks. Jets rookie edge rusher David Bailey has 7½ sacks and five forced fumbles in eight games.
BILLS: 24-17
Line: Saints minus 2½
Two losing teams battling for first place is common in the weak NFC South. The Panthers are reeling following three straight losses. But QB Bryce Young has played some of his best football this season. He’ll face plenty of pressure from the Saints. Chase Young and Carl Granderson have combined for 15½ sacks. New Orleans swept the series last year after Tyler Shough took over as starting QB.
UPSET SPECIAL: PANTHERS: 23-20
Line: Texans minus 4½
C.J. Stroud has 16 TD passes with only two interceptions and the Texans have won three of four after an 0-4 start. A defense that sacked Justin Herbert eight times could have a big day against an offensive line that’s allowed 38 sacks. Shedeur Sanders played well last week filling in, but Deshaun Watson will start. The Browns are 3-0 at home and begin a stretch of four straight in front of the Dawg Pound.
TEXANS: 20-17
Line: Jaguars minus 10½
The Jaguars were aggressive at the trade deadline, bolstering a defense that’s allowed just 15.1 points per game. Trevor Lawrence leads an offense that’s fourth in scoring (28.6 points). The Titans are coming off a bye following an impressive performance by Cam Ward in an overtime loss to the Bengals. But they traded another top defensive player, sending safety Amani Hooker to Buffalo. The Jaguars swept the season series in each of the last two years.
JAGUARS: 30-16
Line: Chiefs minus 3½
Patrick Mahomes has a new receiver after the Chiefs acquired Josh Downs. Kenneth Walker III has five 100-yard rushing games already for Kansas City. The Falcons have All-Pro running back Bijan Robinson, who leads the NFL with 880 yards rushing in one more game played than Walker. Atlanta has lost four of five, traded Bates and is coming off a game in Spain.
BEST BET: CHIEFS: 26-17
Line: Colts minus 3½
Kyle McCord will make his first career start for the Dolphins, who placed Malik Willis on injured reserve this week. The Colts traded Downs and Keenan Allen but Daniel Jones and Jonathan Taylor remain in Indianapolis. They’ll need some receivers to step up. Shane Steichen is coaching for his job after losing 14 of 16 going back to last season.
COLTS: 22-16
Line: Packers minus 3½
Kirk Cousins is back with the Vikings. He played for Kevin O’Connell in 2022-23 so he knows the offense. Minnesota has a championship-caliber defense and hopes Cousins can fix its offensive woes. Jordan Love was nearly flawless last week at New England and leads the NFL in passing. Green Bay’s Christian Watson and Matthew Golden are Nos. 3 and 4 in yards receiving. The Packers are last in the competitive NFC North despite a .667 winning percentage. The Vikings won the first matchup in Week 1.
PACKERS: 23-22
Line: Rams minus 9½
Matthew Stafford won’t have Puka Nacua for at least a month and Davante Adams is already out, so the Rams will need to rely more on Kyren Williams and the run game along with a stout defense. Myles Garrett had three sacks in his first game back and he’ll be going against a QB making his NFL debut. Rookie Carson Beck replaces Gardner Minshew, who was placed on injured reserve. Beck won’t have top receiver Michael Wilson, who also went on IR. The Cardinals beat the Rams 18-16 in Los Angeles last month but coach Sean McVay is 16-4 vs. Arizona.
RAMS: 26-13
Line: Seahawks minus 6½
Drew Lock fills in again for Sam Darnold while No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza makes his first career start going against the defending Super Bowl champions. It’ll be a difficult matchup for the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. Mendoza, who led Indiana to a national championship, faces the league’s top-ranked defense.
SEAHAWKS: 23-13
Line: 49ers minus 4½
The 49ers added another veteran receiver in Allen to join their injury-riddled group that could start seeing guys return. That’ll be a big boost for an offense led by Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffery and George Kittle. The up-and-down Cowboys haven’t been consistent enough on offense or defense. They can score plenty of points and give them up, too.
49ERS: 30-27
Line: Ravens minus 4½
The winless Chargers have to win a game eventually. Justin Herbert is having a miserable season but he’s too talented to go 0-17. The Ravens have lost four straight and are turning to Jacoby Brissett after losing Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley to injuries and giving Joe Fagnano his first career start.
RAVENS: 23-20.
Last week: Straight up: 14-1. Against spread: 10-5.
Overall: Straight up: 90-46-1. Against spread: 77-57-3.
Best Bet: Straight up: 6-3. Against spread: 5-4.
Upset Special: Straight up: 4-5. Against spread: 4-5.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) passes against the Cleveland Browns during the first half of an NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) celebrates scoring a touchdown during an NFL football game against Atlanta Falcons in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
