Radu Lupu, piano
Radu Lupu is firmly established as one of the most important musicians of his generation and is widely acknowledged as a leading interpreter of the works of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Schubert. Since winning the 1969 Leeds Piano Competition, Mr. Lupu has regularly performed as soloist and recitalist in the musical capitals and major festivals of Europe and the United States. He has appeared many times with the Berlin Philharmonic since his debut with that orchestra at the l978 Salzburg Festival under Herbert von Karajan, as well as the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti. Radu Lupu’s first major American appearances were in 1972 with the Cleveland Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim and with the Chicago Symphony led by Carlo Maria Giulini.

During the 2003-2004 season Mr. Lupu’s North American schedule includes appearances with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony and Seattle Symphony, as well as performances with the Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of Daniel Barenboim in Chicago and New York. Recent seasons have featured recitals at Carnegie Hall and in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Toronto. He recently performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada.

Mr. Lupu has made more than 20 recordings for London/Decca, including the complete Beethoven piano concertos with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, the complete Mozart violin and piano sonatas with Szymon Goldberg, and numerous solo recordings of Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert. His most recent London/Decca releases are of Schubert’s Sonatas, D. 960 and 664, which won a Grammy Award in 1996, and of Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana and Humoresque. He has also made two records with pianist Murray Perahia for Sony Classical and two albums of Schubert Lieder with soprano Barbara Hendricks for EMI. In 1998, he joined Daniel Barenboim for a disc of one piano, four hands Schubert works on the Teldec label. In 2001 Decca released a two-CD set of Schubert’s music for violin and piano, featuring Mr. Lupu with Szymon Goldberg.

Born in Romania in l945, Mr. Lupu began studying the piano at the age of six and made his public debut with a complete program of his own music at 12. In l96l he won a scholarship to the Moscow State Conservatory, and during his seven years there he won first prize in the l966 Van Cliburn, the l967 Enescu International and the l969 Leeds International competitions. Mr. Lupu last performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in January 2003.