"Recording of the week: Zimerman has recorded these concertos before, and as magnificent as those performances with the Vienna Philharmonic are, if I had to compare the two I would say that this new set is even more alive with freedom and spontaneity ... Throughout all five concertos there is a palpable feeling of joy and elation about the very act of being able to make music. This exuberance is one of the many strengths of this spirited set of performances"

Recommended: This isn't Zimerman's first recorded traversal of these concertos. He visited them with the Vienna Philharmonic back in 1989 ... All the qualities I find in Zimerman's playing are here, pianism of aristocratic bearing and refinement. One can only marvel at the pristine finger work and clarity of execution. Another endearing aspect is the poetry and grace he invests in the slow movements ... The result is compelling, and gets my warmest recommendation"

"CD der Woche: Mit seinem fein differenzierten Anschlag ertastet er ein breites Spektrum an Nuancen; es reicht vom innigen Gesang bis zur klirrenden Härte ... Trotz des massigen Aufgebots formen Rattle und seine Sinfoniker aber auch wunderbar weiche und leise Momente, wie im Adagio aus dem fünften Konzert"

"Fazit: Zweifellos eine edle, aus pianistischer Sicht sogar kaum zu übertreffende, vorbildliche Darbietung mit wenig Tiefenschärfe im Orchester und ohne Mut zu Extremen - empfehlenswert, aber sicher keine Offenbarung"

"Covid restrictions prevented those public concerts, but the sessions transferred to the orchestra's performing space at LSO St Luke's, from where they were streamed online, and it's those performances that have now been released on disc by Deutsche Grammophon ... What has remained constant across the decades is the unaffected clarity and beauty of Zimerman's playing - the perfectly even execution of every run, the precise weight of every chord, the compelling articulacy of the smallest details ... By and large, Rattle's conducting is a model of tact and good taste, never drawing attention to itself"

"To begin with, happy the soloists who has Rattle and the LSO as collaborators in this repertory ... Zimerman and Rattle convey the sense that, though Beethoven was entering territory essentially charted by Mozart, he consciously did so as his own man ... The pandemic has robbed us of all that a genuine celebration of Beethoven's 250th anniversary might have been. But the release ... of the piano concertos to mark the occasion, of which this Zimerman/Rattle/LSO collaboration is a proud representative, provides something like compensation"

"Recording of the month: It is appropriate that the peak of Beethoven's orchestral artistry should be scaled by two musicians also at the height of their powers: these performances are as near-definitive as I ever expect to hear ... Zimerman's interpretations here have a fleet grace which takes the breath away. Simon Rattle, meanwhile, makes the perfect foil ... In each work the London Symphony Orchestra rises splendidly to the occasion"