Paul Lewis releases Beethoven Bagatelles

Paul Lewis's new release of Beethoven's Für Elise and Bagatelles comes out on Harmonia Mundi on Friday, 10 July.

To mark the release date, he will take part in Radio 3's In Tune programme with Sean Rafferty, and Presto Classical has chosen his CD as its Record of the Week. He was recently interviewed over three programmes by Spanish classical music station Radio Clasíca, discussing Beethoven.

In a celebration of Beethoven's 250th anniversary year, Lewis was one of the artists to take part in BBC Four's three-part series, Being Beethoven, examining the composer's life and works.

Alongside the release, Spotify has released a four-hour playlist of his recordings and Apple Music selected his recording of Für Elise for its Piano Chill playlist.

The CD is also Limelight magazine's Recording of the Month for August, and the magazine features an interview with him, as well as a five-star review that concludes, 'As usual, Lewis is painstakingly precise, technically brilliant and unfussily intense.'

Lewis discussed his experience of lockdown with the Arts Desk, explaining how the experience made him value music even more than ever: 'This experience has revealed just how much I love music. It’s fantastic to connect with it separately from the business side – the getting on planes, arriving and stress of performing. If I didn’t play another concert, I’d be very sad and would have to find another way of earning a living, but I’d still play, I’d still have music. I’ve been reminded of that.'

Lewis was due to perform at Tanglewood this summer, but with the festival cancelled, the organisation will instead broadcast a video of him performing Beethoven's 'Diabelli' Variations at Wigmore Hall, which will be available to buy, 8–15 July, as well as the video of one of his recent masterclasses.