Radu Lupu

Radu Lupu earned particular respect among knowledgeable listeners for the distinctive character of his piano interpretations. Active as a leading recording artist, he sustained a prominent career spanning the 1970s through the 2000s.

Born on November 30, 1945, in the eastern Romanian city of Galați, Lupu grew up with an attorney father and a linguist mother. Drawn to music from a very young age, he began piano studies at six and presented his first public recital at twelve, including several original compositions on the program. Although he briefly contemplated composing as a profession, he ultimately chose performance during his teenage years. Between 1959 and 1961 he trained at the Bucharest Conservatory under Florica Musicescu, who had also taught Dinu Lipatti, and Cella Delavrancea. Awarded a scholarship at sixteen, he spent the next seven years at the Moscow Conservatory, working with Galina Eguiazarova, Heinrich Neuhaus, and Stanislav Neuhaus while also receiving instruction from Maria Curcio, a pupil of Artur Schnabel. Lupu later described himself as largely self-taught, drawing insights from both pianists and conductors.

In 1966 he captured first prize at the Van Cliburn Competition in Texas. Rather than capitalize immediately on the victory, he completed his Moscow studies in 1969. That same year he won the Leeds Piano Competition in England, and in 1971 he issued his first Decca recording, devoted to piano music by Schubert and Brahms.

Lupu remained on the Decca roster until the 1990s, appearing on other labels only toward the close of his discography. He became admired for his nuanced readings of Brahms and Schubert as well as Schumann and Beethoven, while also championing Mozart and a wide range of twentieth-century repertoire. His American debut took place in 1972 with the Cleveland Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim; although Harold C. Schonberg of The New York Times initially gave the performance a negative review, the critic later became a strong advocate. Lupu made his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974 and went on to perform in most major American and European centers. His Schubert recordings proved especially valued, and one of them—the coupling of the Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960, with the Piano Sonata in A major, D. 664—received the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance.

Lupu continued concert activity well into later life, gradually reducing his recording commitments during the 2000s while maintaining a performing schedule. In 2016 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He withdrew from public appearances entirely in 2019 because of health concerns and died in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 17, 2022. Over the course of his career he produced more than thirty-five recordings.