The Music Treasury
Radu Lupu is featured in this week’s The Music Treasury, hosted by Dr Gary Lemco at Stanford’s KZSU. Radu Lupu is well regarded as a leading pianist of his generation, and is still concertizing across Europe, and the United States.
The evening program includes works for solo piano, violin/piano sonatas, and a Beethoven Piano Concerto.
The Spring broadcast time of The Music Treasury on KZSU 90.1 FM remains Sunday, from 19:00-21:00 PDT. You can also listen online at kzsulive.stanford.edu during the broadcast time.
Radu Lupu, pianist
Radu Lupu (b. 1945) Born in Romania, Mr. Lupu began studying the piano at the age of 6 with Lia Busuioceanu. He made his public debut with a complete program of his own music at l2, continuing his studies for several years with Florica Muzicescu and Cella Delavrancea. In l96l he won a scholarship to the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Galina Eghyazarova, Heinrich Neuhaus and his son, Stanislav Neuhaus. During his seven years at the Moscow Conservatory he won first prize in the l967 Enescu International Competition in addition to the Van Cliburn (1966) and Leeds International (1969) competitions. In 1989 and again in 2006, he was awarded the prestigious “Abbiati” prize given by the Italian Critics’ Association. He is also the recipient of the 2006 Premio Internazionale Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli award.
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, Schumann, and Schubert. Since winning the prestigious Van Cliburn (1966) and Leeds Piano Competitions (1969), he 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 1978 Salzburg Festival under Herbert von Karajan, and with the Vienna Philharmonic, including the opening concert of the 1986 Salzburg Festival under Riccardo Muti. He is also a frequent visitor to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and all the major London and American orchestras. He has played at most of the notable music festivals and has been a regular guest at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals.
In the 2015/2016 season, Mr. Lupu’s engagements included the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestra della Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Concertgebouw Orkest, and the Zurich Tonhalle-Orchester. He gave recitals in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, and at the Lucerne Festival. His first major American appearances were in 1972 in New York with the Cleveland Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim in and with the Chicago Symphony led by Carlo Maria Giulini. Concerts with the New York Philharmonic soon followed and Mr. Lupu has since appeared with all of the foremost American orchestras.
Radu Lupu has made more that 20 recordings for London/Decca, including the complete Beethoven concertos with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, the complete Mozart violin and piano sonatas with Szymon Goldberg, Grieg and Schumann Concertos, Debussy and Frank Violin and Piano Sonatas with Kyung Wha Chung, and numerous solo recordings of Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Schubert. In 1995 he won two awards in the category “Best Instrumental Record of the Year”: a Grammy for Schubert’s Sonatas in A major D 664 and B Flat Major D 960, and an Edison Award for Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and Humoresque. He has also made two records with Murray Perahia (CBS), two albums of Schubert Lieder with soprano Barbara Hendricks (EMI), and a disc with Daniel Barenboim of pieces for four hands by Schubert (Teldec).
Brahms: Theme and Variations in D Minor, from Op. 18
Schubert: Violin Sonatina in G Minor, D. 408 (w/S. Goldberg)
Schumann: Humoreske in B-flat Major, Op. 20
Brahms: Intermezzi, Op. 118: Nos. 2-4
Schubert: Piano Sonata in D Major, D. 850: Con moto
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15(w/M. Bamert)
