The announcement, made in Berlin on 19 May 2016, represents a major milestone in Andris Nelsons’ recording career and prepares the way for three landmark projects. Earlier this month, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and DG announced that their Grammy Award-winning Shostakovich project with Nelsons had paved the way for an extension to the yellow label’s ongoing series of live Shostakovich recordings, which will now encompass the composer’s complete symphonies and his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Advanced discussions are underway between Deutsche Grammophon, Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig about a collaboration that will shed new light on the symphonies of Bruckner, redefining Bruckner’s very distinctive soundworld. In addition, Nelsons will record Beethoven’s complete symphonies with the Wiener Philharmoniker through calendar year 2016-2019 and he returns to perform the complete Beethoven cycle in 2020, the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

“I am absolutely delighted to be substantially partnering with Deutsche Grammophon,” comments Andris Nelsons. “Deutsche Grammophon’s commitment to our Shostakovich cycle in Boston and the tradition, expertise, and excellence they bring to each recording has been so important to me. I look forward to be partnering with Deutsche Grammophon, welcoming them into my musical family with the two extraordinary musical institutions of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Furthermore, I am so honoured to be invited to perform and record a Beethoven cycle with the Wiener Philharmoniker. These revelatory works by the genius composers of Shostakovich, Bruckner and Beethoven will be the focus for my upcoming recordings with three of the world’s greatest orchestras. I could not be happier – it is both a dream and an honour.”

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra have recently concluded an acclaimed European tour. Nelsons will next appear in Leipzig on May 26 and 27, 2016 and June 2 and 3, 2016 with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 forming one of the programmes. He will also return to the Wiener Philharmoniker on March 18, 19, 21 and 23, 2017 with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” on the programme.