Walter Klien

Klien studied piano with Josef Dichler at the Music Academy in Vienna and with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.

Shortly before his death from cancer in 1991 (which occurred shortly before a planned visit to Australia), he was honoured with the Joseph Marx Music Prize in 1987 and the gold medal of the city of Vienna in 1989.

He performed and recorded piano duo and duet repertoire with his wife, Beatriz Klien and with his Graz contemporary Alfred Brendel.

These qualities are also very evident in his Brahms recordings, where the dense textures of the writing can easily obscure the musical argument.

Critics continue to regard his complete Schubert sonatas as amongst the finest recorded, not least for their unique Viennese lilt and unaffected ease.