The Friedrich Gulda Edition –
A Comprehensive Portrait of an Extraordinary Artist
Gulda’s complete recordings for DG, Amadeo, Decca, Philips and Accord
are issued as a set for the first time ever – on 84 CDs and 1 DVD
The edition documents a 50+-year recording career, with music by Bach, Beethoven,
Chopin, Debussy, Mozart, Ravel, Prokofiev, Schubert, Schumann, Gulda himself and more
It includes numerous CD premieres and a previously unreleased Bach Toccata
The box set comes out on 14 November 2025
“The spirit of Gulda is the spirit of creativity and adventure in music”
Chick Corea
After winning the Geneva Competition at the age of 16, charismatic Austrian pianist Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) enjoyed a long and unorthodox career. An eloquent virtuoso in the classical sphere, he also made his name as a jazz improviser, composed his own highly original works, and anticipated crossover culture with programmes that “put the jazz cat among the purist classical pigeons” (Gramophone). He made his first record at 17, in 1947, and his last over half a century later, in 1999.
For the first time ever, his complete recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Amadeo, Decca, Philips and Accord are to be released by DG as a single box set. Consisting of 84 CDs and 1 DVD, the Friedrich Gulda Edition ranges from the pianist’s favourite composers – Bach, Mozart and Beethoven – to jazz icons Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie, and works by Gulda himself, via Chopin, Debussy, Prokofiev and many more, reflecting a unique career of almost unparalleled versatility.
The set features Gulda’s collaborations with such leading figures as Claudio Abbado, Adrian Boult, Pierre Fournier, Lorin Maazel and Heinrich Schiff, as well as soprano Ursula Anders, who was his partner for the last 25 years of his life and died earlier this year. The DVD content includes So What?! Friedrich Gulda – A Portrait (2002) and the concert film Solo Flight (1981).
An extensive accompanying booklet contains essays by Gulda biographer Irene Suchy and journalist Reinhard Brembeck, a note on the Munich Piano Summer festival, tracklists ordered by label, and numerous rare photographs, while the discs are housed in sleeves with the original cover art. Offering almost 100 hours of music, the Friedrich Gulda Edition will be released on 14 November 2025.
Among this anthology’s many audio riches are the recordings available on CD for the first time ever. These comprise the world premiere recording of Gulda and Anders’ Opus Anders; performances of four of Gulda’s own works; and three entire albums – Gulda Jazz, recorded in São Paulo; the winners’ concert from the 1966 International Modern Jazz Competition; and The Master, a solo jazz disc (1983).
Another gem is the previously unreleased recording of Bach’s Toccata in C minor, BWV 911. Made by Gulda in 1947 and long believed lost, it was recently recovered from a metal matrix held by the British Library.
Fans will have a chance to compare and contrast two complete cycles of the Beethoven Sonatas and the Debussy Préludes; to explore his 1975 readings of Mozart piano concertos with Abbado and the Wiener Philharmoniker, or the extensive series of sonata recordings that make up The Mozart Tapes (1982); and to immerse themselves in his audacious interpretation of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (one of four recordings specially licensed for this anthology).
Jazz and experimental music were also central to Gulda’s career on stage and in the studio. Friedrich Gulda at Birdland, Fata Morgana – Live at the Domicile and Chick Corea & Friedrich Gulda: The Meeting are all highlights of his recorded legacy. So too are the many examples of his own music included here – Concerto for Myself, Concerto for Ursula, Menuett, Old World Blues, and so on. Some of these works were premiered at the Munich Piano Summer festival, which he initiated in 1981 – videos of his many performances there form part of the extensive Gulda content on STAGE+.