Radu Lupu

Radu Lupu (born 30 November 1945) is a Romanian pianist. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest living pianists. Born in Galați, Romania, Lupu began studying piano at the age of six. Two of his major piano teachers were Florica Musicescu, who was also the teacher of Dinu Lipatti, and Heinrich Neuhaus, who was also the teacher of Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. From 1966 to 1969, he won first prizes of three of the world's most prestigious piano competitions: the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1966), the George Enescu International Piano Competition (1967), and the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition (1969). These victories launched Lupu's international career and he has appeared with all of the major orchestras and at all of the major festivals and music capitals of the world. From 1970 to 1993, Lupu made over 20 recordings for Decca Records. His solo recordings, which have received considerable acclaim, include works by Beethoven, Brahms, Grieg, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann, including all of Beethoven's piano concertos as well as five piano sonatas and other solo works; the Grieg and Schumann piano concertos, as well as three major solo works of Schumann; nine piano sonatas and the Impromptus and Moments musicaux of Schubert; various major solo works and the first piano concerto of Brahms; and two piano concertos of Mozart. His chamber music recordings for Decca include all of Mozart's sonatas for violin and piano with Szymon Goldberg; the violin sonatas of Debussy and Franck with Kyung Wha Chung; and various works by Schubert for violin and piano with Goldberg. He additionally recorded works of Mozart and Schubert for piano four-hands and two pianos with Murray Perahia for CBS Masterworks, two albums of Schubert songs with Barbara Hendricks for EMI, and a disc of works by Schubert for piano four-hands with Daniel Barenboim for Teldec. In addition to his performances of the music of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann, Lupu is also noted for his performances of Bartók, Debussy, Enescu, and Janáček, among other composers. Lupu was nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning one in 1995 for an album of two Schubert piano sonatas. In 1995, Lupu also won an Edison Award for a disc of three major piano works of Schumann. Other awards won by Lupu include the Franco Abbiati Prize in 1989 and 2006, and the 2006 Premio Internazionale Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli award.