Claudio Arrau, Beethoven, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Bernard Haitink - Piano Concerto No 3

Chilean pianist (born February 6, 1903, Chillán, Chiledied June 9, 1991, Mürzzuschlag, Austria). Arrau was one of the most-renowned performers of the 20th century, and is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. Arraus father, an eye doctor, died when he was one year old. His mother supported the family by giving piano lessons and must have been gratified when her own son proved to be a child prodigy at the piano. Claudio studied privately in Santiago for two years and then traveled at the expense of the Chilean government to Berlin, where he studied from 1912 to 1918 with , once a student of . Arraus career began with a Berlin recital in 1914; during the next decade he toured extensively in Europe, South America, and the United States. Between 1924 and 1940 he taught at Julius Sterns Conservatory in Berlin, and in 1941 he moved permanently to the United States, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen only in 1979, after the rise of Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Arrau continued his frequent touring past his 80th birthday. Arrau focused on the music of Liszt, , , , , and, above all, . In 1935 he played all the keyboard works of J.S. Bach in a series of 12 concerts. His performances of the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven (there are 32) were broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Arraus awards are too numerous to mention, and his library of recorded works is enormous. Regarded as one of the least ostentatious of the centurys virtuoso pianists, he developed a classical approach that exhibited an extreme concentration on detail without sacrificing feeling.

• es.wikipedia.org
• arrauhouse.org
• britannica.com
• memoriachilena.gob.cl