Claudio Arrau Leon (February 6, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a Chilean pianist of world fame for his deep interpretations of a huge, vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Arrau was born in Chillán, the son of doctor Carlos Arrau and Lucrecia Ponce de León, a piano teacher.
Arrau was a child prodigy, giving his first concert at age five. At age seven he was sent on a Chilean government grant to study in Germany, at the Stern Conservatory of Berlin where he was a pupil of Martin Krause, who had studied under Franz Liszt. At the age of 11 he could play Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, considered to be one of the most difficult sets of works ever written for the piano, and also Brahms's Paganini Variations.
Arrau was the teacher of Karlrobert Kreiten, Paul Kiss, Edith Fischer, David Lively, Ena Bronstein, Philip Lorenz, Roberto Eyzaguirre, Alfonso Montecino, Olga Barabini, Ruth Nye, among others. Garrick Ohlsson, Arnulf von Arnim, David Rubinstein, Bennett Lerner, Dickran Atamian, Goodwin Sammel, Roberto Szidon, Rosalina Sackstein, John Cobb, Clive Britton, Reidrun Rodewald, Antonio Guedes Barbosa, Germán Diez, Fedora Aberastury, Elmma Miranda, John Bell Young, Güher Pekinel and Süher Pekinel and others also received lessons from Maestro Arrau.
Arrau edited all Beethoven piano sonatas in Urtext edition.
Piano Sonatas (32) in 2 volumes Volume 1 By Ludwig van Beethoven. Edited by Arrau(Urtext). For piano. New Urtext edition(Claudio Arrau;musicological revisions by Hoffmann-Erbrecht).Op.2,Nos.1,2,3; Op.7; Op.10,Nos.1,2,3; Op.13; Op.14,Nos.1,2; Op.22; Op.26; Op.27,Nos.1,2; Op.28. Published by C.F. Peters. (PB8100a) See more info...
He was a pianist with a wide range of repertoire, it was his performances of music by composers such as Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt and Debussy that won him the greatest acclaim.
2003 sees the 100th anniversary of the birth of this great pianist and to celebrate, Philips is releasing The Heritage Edition.
He played with style and passion, with a prodigious technique. Many claimed that his rich, weighty tone lent his interpretations a distinctive voice.
His final session includes works of Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Schubert. At time of his death, he had Haydn, Mendelssohn, Reger, Busoni and Boulez's 3rd Sonata in preparation.
Honorary Member, The Royal Philharmonic Society. 1988
National Prize of Art of Chile. 1983
Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur of France
Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Oxford
First Honorary Member, The Robert Schumann Society
Beethoven Medal of New York
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France
Hans von Bülow Medal of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. 1978
Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz of the Federal Republic of Germany. 1970
Homage from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Kurt Westphal, on behalf of the orchestra, called him "heir to the throne of Gieseking and Busoni". 1968
Doctor of Music, University of Chile. 1959
Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Concepción (Spanish). 1959
Gold Medal of the City of Concepción
Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Chile. 1949
Gold Medal of the Chilean Government. 1944
Winner of the Grand Prix of the Concours International des Pianistes. The jury was composed by Arthur Rubinstein, Joseph Pembaur, Ernest Schelling, Alfred Cortot and José Vianna da Motta. Cortot exclaimed: "Cela c'est un pianiste. C'est merveilleux". Geneva, 1927
Honour Prize of the Stern Conservatory (German), becoming Professor. 1925
Liszt Prize in 1919 (after 45 years without a first place winner), and again in 1920
Schulhoff Prize. Berlin, 1918
End of studies at the Stern Conservatory, receiving an "Exceptional Diploma". Berlin, 1917
Grant of the Stern Conservatory. Berlin, 1916
First Prize in the Rudolph Ibach Competition (he was the only participating boy). Berlin, 1915
Gustav Holländer Medal for young artists. Berlin, 1915
Grant of the Chilean Congress for musical studies in Berlin. 1911
Grand Prix du Disque:
Schumann: Piano Concerto, Carnaval; Beethoven: Sonata No.32. EMI Classics DVD (Classic Archives series)
Grand Prix du Disque:
Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series) (1990)
Warsaw Chopin Society's Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin :
Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series) (1990)
FFFF de Télérama:
Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series)
Diapason d'Or:
Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series)
This recording was reissued in March 2007. The new released recording includes Allegro de Cocert in A, Op. 64 as seen below.
