News

Radu Lupu

This famous Romenian pianist will be coming to Florence again for a recital dedicated to the music of Schumann, Bartok and Beethoven which will conclude the 1995-96 season and form part of the now regular collaboration with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

A reserved personality who dislikes any kind of propaganda or selfpromotion, Radu Lupu is today at the height of his career as a pianist thanks to his exceptional and deeply intense capability for concentration and self-identification in the pages of music he plays. Regularly avoiding press conferences and complimentary advertising drives and fortunately immune from the risk or suspicion of routine, though at a very high level, Radu Lupu's performances in public show that he is a musician of profound and fascinating originality. His repertoire covers all the most important composers like Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms; in the last few years, however, he has begun to extend it towards composers whose music he has apparently, as far as we can gather from his choice of concert and recording programmes, not as yet performed in public, like Musorgski, Ciaikovski and Bartok. In fact his last two appearances for the Amici della Musica reflect this evolution: in May '92 he played the Sonata op.2 by Brahms, exerpts from The Seasons by Ciaikovski and a revealing and an unforgettable interpretation of Pictures at an Exhibition by Musorgski; Lupu's last recital for the Amici della Musica, for the inauguration of the 1994-'95 season, included some pages by Bartok (Improvisations op.20 and Suite op.14), Schumann (Davidsbündlertanze op.6) and Schubert (the complete series of Impromtus op.142). Lupu, born in Romania in 1945, began studying the piano from the age of six; he then studied for many years under Florica Muzicescu (whose school had already produced another Romanian great pianist, Dinu Lipatti) and Cella Delavrance. Later he won a scholarship to the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied for seven years. He then won brilliant successes in several international competitions: he won the "Van Cliburn" Competition in 1966, the "Enesco" prize the following year and the Leeds prize in 1969. Since then he has become one of the most important pianists of his generation, regularly playing in all the most prestigious concert halls with the finest orchestras and the most illustrious conductors: moreover he has often been a guest of the Berliner Philharmoniker, with whom he made his debut in 1978 at the Festival of Salzburg with Von Karajan conducting; he returned there the following year and again for the next few years with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Riccardo Muti. He has performed in Americia with the orchestras of Cleveland (conducted by Barenboim), Chicago (conducted by Giulini) and New York. Radu Lupu's recording production reflects his favourite repertoire: some of his finest records include the complete series of Beethoven concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, the Grieg and Schumann Concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn. His chamber music recordings include a fine edition of the Sonatas for violin and piano by Mozart con Szymon Goldberg, a record album of lieders, again by Mozart, con Barbara Hendriks, extracts by Mozart and Schubert for piano with four hands with Murray Perahia (with whom he also recorded Mozart's Concerts for two pianos and orchestra). Several recitals have been dedicated to Schubert's Sonatas and Impromtus, together with other record albums dedicated to Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms.

Sunday 19th May 1996

Radu Lupu

TEATRO COMUNALE 9pm In collaboration with Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Radu LUPU, piano R.SCHUMANN: Waldszenen op.82;
L.van BEETHOVEN:Sonata n.17 in re minore, op.31 n.2 ("La Tempesta");
B.BARTOK: Suite "All'aria aperta";
L.van BEETHOVEN; Sonata n.15 in re maggiore, op.28 ("Pastorale").