Claudio Arrau

Claudio Arrau was a Chilean and American pianist of immense talent.

He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. His musical expertise covered a vast repertoire. This spanned from the baroque era to the 20th century. He was particularly famous for his interpretations of composers like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. His playing was characterized by a unique and powerful sound. Some critics described it as thick and orchestral. Others called it a spellbinding, disembodied timbre.

Arrau’s musical journey began with a remarkable early talent. He was a child prodigy who could read music before reading words. His mother, a piano teacher, introduced him to the instrument. By age four, he was already reading Beethoven sonatas. He gave his first concert at age five. At age six, he performed for President Pedro Montt of Chile. This performance was so impressive that the government provided a ten-year grant. This grant allowed him to study in Germany with his mother and sister.

In Germany, Arrau studied at the Stern Conservatory of Berlin. He became a pupil of Martin Krause. Krause had studied under the legendary composer Franz Liszt. This connection linked Arrau to a great tradition of piano playing. By age eleven, Arrau mastered extremely difficult works. These included Liszt's Transcendental Etudes and Brahms's Paganini Variations. However, his formal studies ended abruptly at age fifteen. His mentor, Krause, passed away during his fifth year of teaching Arrau. This loss was a devastating shock to the young student.

Arrau became a master of performing complete musical cycles. In 1935, he performed the entire keyboard works of Bach over 12 recitals. In 1936, he completed the keyboard works of Mozart over 5 recitals. He also completed cycles for Schubert and Weber. In 1938, he gave the first complete Beethoven piano sonatas and concertos in Mexico City. He repeated these massive feats in New York and London. He eventually became one of the world's leading authorities on Beethoven. His dedication to the score was matched by his deep use of imagination.

His professional career was defined by incredible productivity and stamina. Between the ages of 40 and 60, he averaged 120 concerts per season. His repertoire was enormous. It was estimated that his repertoire could fill 76 recital evenings. This count did not even include his 60 works performed with an orchestra. Arrau also recorded significant portions of music by Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt. He edited the complete Beethoven piano sonatas for the Peters Urtext edition. He recorded these sonatas twice, once from 1962 to 1966 and again from 1984 to 1990.

Arrau’s life was also marked by significant historical milestones. In 1941, he emigrated from Germany to the United States. He eventually settled in Douglaston, Queens, New York. He became a dual citizen of the United States and Chile in 1979. He also played a role in a major technological shift in music. In 1982, the first classical music CD was released by PolyGram. The content of this historic release featured Chopin waltzes performed by Arrau.

Throughout his life, Arrau received many international honors. He was a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received the Cross of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany. He was also named an honorary citizen of Santiago. His influence extended to many other musicians. Numerous pianists, such as Garrick Ohlsson and Stephen Drury, studied with him. Even toward the end of his life, he remained active. He was working on Bach recordings and new pieces by Haydn and Mendelssohn when he died in 1991.