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 prestigious Van Cliburn (1966) and Leeds Piano Competitions (1969), 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, 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 of the major London orchestras.
Radu Lupu's first major American appearances were in 1972 with the Cleveland Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim in New York 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. This season, his annual winter tour will include concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, in addition to a North American recital tour including performances at Baltimore's Shriver Hall and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Mr. Lupu's European orchestral engagements include the Berlin Staatskapelle, Berlin RSB, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle, Dresden Staatskapelle, and a Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle with Orchestre national de Lyon as well as recitals in Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, and Stockholm.
At the request of Sir Colin Davis, who celebrated his 80th birthday with the New York Philharmonic in 2007, Mr. Lupu appeared in a special series of concerts devoted to concerti of Mozart. Additionally in the 2006-07 season, he performed with the Boston, San Francisco, and St. Louis Symphonies.
Highlights of his 2005-06 US tour included recitals in Seattle, Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kansas City, and Ottawa, and a duo piano recital in Chicago and New York's Carnegie Hall with Daniel Barenboim in a program focused on works of Mozart. In addition, he performed with the orchestras of Houston, Montreal, Chicago, and with Berlin's Staatskapelle Orchestra conducted by Mr. Barenboim in Carnegie Hall.
During the 2004-05 season, Mr. Lupu performed the complete cycle of Beethoven piano concerti with the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welsler-Möst, which they repeated together in Carnegie Hall. Recent seasons have featured recitals in New York (Carnegie Hall), Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Ft. Worth as well as performances with the Atlanta Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony (at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall), the Cincinnati Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic.
Mr. Lupu has made more than 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, 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 1995, and of Schumann's "Kinderszenen," "Kreisleriana" and "Humoresque," which won an Edison Award in 1995. He has also made two records with pianist Murray Perahia (Sony Classical) and two albums of Schubert Lieder with soprano Barbara Hendricks (EMI). In 1998, for Teldec, he joined Daniel Barenboim for a disc of Schubert works for piano, four hands. In 2001 Decca released a 2-CD set of Schubert's music for violin and piano, featuring Mr. Lupu together with Szymon Goldberg.
Born in Romania in l945, Mr. Lupu began studying the piano at the age of 6 with Lia Busuioseanu. 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 Delavrance. In l96l he won a scholarship to the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with 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 and Leeds International 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.
