Pierre-Laurent Aimard joins Alpha Classics as an exclusive recording artist
23/6/2026
Alpha Classics has announced the exclusive signing of Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Renowned as a leading figure in contemporary classical music and an insightful interpreter of the core piano repertoire, Aimard launches the partnership with two album releases that reflect his inquisitive and wide-ranging approach to music-making: Schönberg: Piano Works (2 October 2026) and Beethoven The Avant-Gardist (26 March 2027).
“This new partnership with Alpha makes me extremely happy. At a challenging time for the recording industry, it is a privilege to benefit from their creativity, experience, and professionalism.”
— Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Pierre-Laurent Aimard has waited more than forty years to record Schönberg’s piano works – a journey that began in 1973 when, as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, he performed Schönberg’s Opus 11 live on TV after winning the Olivier Messiaen Competition.
In this long-awaited recording, he traces the composer’s artistic evolution through five landmark piano works, from the Expressionism of Op.11 (1909) to Op.33b (1931), written on the eve of Schönberg’s emigration to the United States and reflecting both Brahmsian tradition and a world in transition.
Schönberg: Piano Works (ALPHA1281) will be released on 2 October 2026.
“It is extraordinary that, in an era where everything is recorded multiple times, we still do not have a wide spectrum of choices for Schönberg’s music. It suggests there remains a profound misunderstanding of this repertoire – or perhaps that we simply need more time to absorb what is truly valuable.”
– Pierre-Laurent Aimard
For his second Alpha Classics release, Aimard turns to Beethoven in a deeply personal tribute. On Beethoven The Avant-Gardist, he alternates the composer’s piano works with those of 20th- and 21st-century composers such as Scriabin, Stockhausen and Boulez. This recording underscores Beethoven’s radical imagination and enduring influence as one of music’s great innovators.
Beethoven The Avant-Gardist (2CD) will be released on 26 March 2027, marking the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death.
“Pierre-Laurent Aimard has earned his place in our modern musical pantheon as a performer who has brought a strong and clear vision to the repertoires he has been committed to championing. Having now witnessed his creative process across two recordings (Schönberg: Piano Works and Beethoven The Avant-Gardist), I have been able to appreciate his rigour, his clarity of vision and, above all, the intensity he brings to every note, which he has clearly thought through in depth. He is a unique voice on the current piano scene.”
- Didier Martin, Artistic Director of Alpha Classics