Claudio Arrau

Claudio Arrau León (Spanish: [ˈklawðjo aˈraw]; February 6, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a Chilean and American pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms.

His ancestor Lorenzo de Arrau was a Spanish engineer who was sent to Chile by King Carlos III of Spain.

At eight years old, Arrau was sent on a ten-year-long grant from the Chilean government to study in Germany, travelling with his mother and sister Lucrecia.

He was admitted to the Stern Conservatory of Berlin where he eventually became a pupil of Martin Krause, who had studied under Franz Liszt.

At the age of eleven, Arrau could play Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, one of the most difficult works for piano, as well as Brahms's Paganini Variations.

[4] In 1935, Arrau gave a celebrated rendition of the entire keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach over 12 recitals.

[5] On August 17, 1982, the first CD of classical music in history was released by the PolyGram record company;[6] its content consisted of waltzes by Chopin performed by Claudio Arrau.

At one time or another, he performed the complete keyboard works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin, but also programmed such off-the-beaten-path composers as Alkan and Busoni and illuminated obscure corners of the Liszt repertoire.

It has been estimated that Arrau's total repertoire would carry him through 76 recital evenings, not counting the 60-odd works with orchestra which he also knew.