Claudio Arrau
Arrau featured on the cover of an early album recording of Chopin concertos.
Background information
Born	February 6, 1903(1903-02-06) Chillán, Chile
Died	June 9, 1991 (aged 88) Mürzzuschlag, Austria
Genre(s)	Baroque, Classical, Romantic
Occupation(s)	Virtuoso pianist, pedagogue
Instrument(s)	Piano
Years active	1914-1991

Claudio Arrau León (February 6, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a Chilean pianist of world fame for his deep interpretations of a huge, vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Chile. ... Chillán, located about 400 km south of Chiles capital Santiago, has been from its foundation in the year 1580 the heart of Chiles rich agricultural region. ... June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Mürzzuschlag is a town in Styria, Austria, with a population of 9,569 (2001). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750[1] (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1750 to 1825, despite considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ... A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... In education, teachers are those who teach students or pupils, often a course of study or a practical skill. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750[1] (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... 20th century classical music, the classical music of the 20th century, was extremely diverse, beginning with the late Romantic style of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Impressionism of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and continuing through the Neoclassicism of middle-period Igor Stravinsky, and ranging to such distant sound-worlds as the complete...

Life

Arrau was born in Chillán, the son of eye doctor Carlos Arrau and Lucrecia Ponce de León, a piano teacher. He belonged to an old, prominent family of Southern Chile. His ancestor Lorenzo de Arrau was sent to Chile by King Carlos III of Spain. Through his great-grandmother, María del Carmen Daroch del Solar, Arrau was a descendant of the Campbells of Glenorchy, a very prominent Scottish noble family. He was a distant relative of Francesca von Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon, daughter-in-law of Otto von Habsburg. They both descended from Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, father of the first Earl of Breadalbane.^{[citation needed]} Chillán, located about 400 km south of Chiles capital Santiago, has been from its foundation in the year 1580 the heart of Chiles rich agricultural region. ... Lorenzo de Arrau (1735-1781), Spanish Engineer sent to Chile by Carlos III, King of Spain. ... Charles III (January 20, 1716 - December 14, 1788) was king of Spain from 1759 to 1788. ... Otto, Crown Prince of Austria or Otto von Habsburg (born 20 November 1912 as Archduke Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius of Austria) is the current head of the Habsburg family and the eldest son of Karl of Austria... Campbell may refer to: // See Campbell (surname) Campbell University, a Baptist school in Buies Creek, North Carolina Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra, Australia Campbell, California, city in Santa Clara County, California Campbell, Florida, census-designated place and an unincorporated community in Osceola County, Florida, United States Campbell... Glenorchy is the name of many places around the world: Glenorchy, city adjoining Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Glenorchy is a town bordering Lake Wakatipu in the South Island of New Zealand This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The title Earl of Breadalbane and Holland was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1681 for John Campbell, 1st Earl of Caithness, who resigned the Earldom of Caithness in favour of George Sinclair in exchange for the new Earldom. ...

Arrau was a child prodigy, giving his first concert at age five. At age seven he was sent on a Chilean government grant to study in Germany, at the Stern Conservatory of Berlin where he was a pupil of Martin Krause, who had studied under Franz Liszt. At the age of 11 he could play Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, considered to be one of the most difficult sets of works ever written for the piano, and also Brahms's Paganini Variations. Arrau also made live-recording player piano music rolls for the Aeolian Duo-Art system all of which survive today and can be heard. A child prodigy is someone who is a master of one or more skills or arts at an early age. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Martin Krause, who was born in Lobstädt (Saxony) on 17 June 1853, was a German concert pianist, piano teacher and writer on music. ... “Liszt” redirects here. ... The Transcendental Etudes (sometimes Études dexécution transcendante or Transcendental Studies) is a series of twelve compositions written for solo piano by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, begun in 1826 and finalized in 1851. ... Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of classical music. ... The Paganini Variations are a set of theme and variations, written by Johannes Brahms (Op. ... The player piano is a type of piano that plays music without the need for a human pianist to depress the normal keys or pedals. ...

In 1937, Arrau married German Jewish mezzo-soprano Ruth Schneider, and they had three children: Carmen (1938-2006), Mario (1940-1988) and Christopher (1959). He had a happy family life with his wife and children. The Arraus were a very close family and used to pass summers in Chester (Vermont), where the pianist had a summer residence. A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that...

Work

Arrau was the teacher of Karlrobert Kreiten, Paul Kiss, Edith Fischer, David Lively, Ena Bronstein, Philip Lorenz, Roberto Eyzaguirre, Alfonso Montecino, Olga Barabini, Ruth Nye, among others. Garrick Ohlsson, Arnulf von Arnim, David Rubinstein, Stephen Drury, Bennett Lerner, Dickran Atamian, Goodwin Sammel, Roberto Szidon, Rosalina Sackstein, John Cobb, Clive Britton, Reidrun Rodewald, Antonio Guedes Barbosa, Germán Diez, Fedora Aberastury, Elmma Miranda, John Bell Young, Joseph Villa, Güher Pekinel and Süher Pekinel and others also received lessons from Arrau. Karlrobert Kreiten (June 26, 1916 - September 7, 1943) was a German pianist. ... Ruth Nye is a notable pianist and teacher of Australian origin. ... Garrick Ohlsson (born April 3, 1948 in New York) is an American classical pianist. ... He is a concert pianist and teacher born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1947. ... Davis Rubinstein, Composer. ...

Arrau recorded the complete piano music of Robert Schumann, and edited his works for publication, as well as all Beethoven piano sonatas in Urtext edition. He is also famous for his recordings of Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Liszt, Chopin, Schubert and Debussy, among others. He played with style and passion, with a prodigious technique. Many claimed that his rich, weighty tone lent his interpretations a distinctive voice, some saying it sounded thick and muddy and others praising its rounded tone, saying it sounded as though Arrau were almost playing the organ or "plowing" his "paws" into the "flexible" keyboard. According to American critic Harold Schonberg, Arrau always put "a decidedly romantic piano tone in his interpretations."^[1] Although he often played with slower and more deliberate tempi from his middle age, Arrau had a reputation for being a fabulous virtuoso early in his career. Many critics feel his overall approach became less spontaneous and more reserved and introspective after the death of his mother, to whom he was extremely close. according to Joseph Horowitz in his book Conversations With Arrau (1982).^{[Who said this?]} For others with the same name see Robert Schumann (disambiguation). ... “Beethoven” redirects here. ... An urtext edition of a work of classical music is a printed version intended to reproduce the original intention of the composer as exactly as possible, without any added or changed material. ... “Bach” redirects here. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of the Romantic period. ... “Liszt” redirects here. ... “Chopin” redirects here. ... Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797 – November 19, 1828) was an Austrian composer. ... Claude Debussy, photo by Félix Nadar, 1908. ... Harold Charles Schonberg (November 29, 1915 - July 26, 2003) was a American music critic and journalist, most notably for the New York Times between 1960 and 1980. ... A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. ...

At the time of his death in Mürzzuschlag, Austria, Arrau was working on a compact disc recording of the complete works of Bach for keyboard, and had Haydn, Mendelssohn, Reger, Busoni and Boulez's 3rd Sonata in preparation. Mürzzuschlag is a town in Styria, Austria, with a population of 9,569 (2001). ... A compact disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ... “Bach” redirects here. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ...

The Robert Schumann Society established the Arrau Medal in 1991. It has been awarded to András Schiff, Martha Argerich and Murray Perahia. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... András Schiff (born December 21, 1953) is a Hungarian-born Jewish classical pianist. ... Martha Argerich in 1962 Martha Argerich (born June 5, 1941) is a concert pianist of Argentine origin. ... Murray Perahia (b. ...

Awards and Recognitions

• Gold Medal, The Royal Philharmonic Society. 1990
• Doctor, The Juilliard School. 1989
• Honorary Member, The Royal Philharmonic Society. 1988
• National Prize of Art of Chile. 1983
• Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur of France
• Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Oxford
• First Honorary Member, The Robert Schumann Society
• Beethoven Medal of New York
• Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France
• Hans von Bülow Medal of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. 1978
• Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz of the Federal Republic of Germany. 1970
• Homage from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Kurt Westphal, on behalf of the orchestra, called him "heir to the throne of Gieseking and Busoni". 1968
• Doctor of Music, University of Chile. 1959
• Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Concepción (Spanish). 1959
• Gold Medal of the City of Concepción
• Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Chile. 1949
• Gold Medal of the Chilean Government. 1944
• Winner of the Grand Prix of the Concours International des Pianistes. The jury was composed by Arthur Rubinstein, Joseph Pembaur, Ernest Schelling, Alfred Cortot and José Vianna da Motta. Cortot exclaimed: "Cela c'est un pianiste. C'est merveilleux". Geneva, 1927
• Honour Prize of the Stern Conservatory (German), becoming Professor. 1925
• Liszt Prize in 1919 (after 45 years without a first place winner), and again in 1920
• Schulhoff Prize. Berlin, 1918
• End of studies at the Stern Conservatory, receiving an "Exceptional Diploma". Berlin, 1917
• Grant of the Stern Conservatory. Berlin, 1916
• First Prize in the Rudolph Ibach Competition (he was the only participating boy). Berlin, 1915
• Gustav Holländer Medal for young artists. Berlin, 1915
• Grant of the Chilean Congress for musical studies in Berlin. 1911

Grand Prix du Disque: The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. ... The Juilliard School is one of the worlds premiere performing arts conservatory located in New York City, it is informally identified as simply Juilliard, and trains in the fields of Dance, Drama, and Music. ... The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. ... The National Prize of Art of Chile, was created on November 9, 1942. ... Chiang Kai-sheks Légion dhonneur. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... This article is about the state. ... The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Literature) is an Order of France, established on May 2, 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of lOrdre National du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. ... The Hans von Bülow Medal is awarded by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to outstanding musicians close to the orchestra. ... The Berlin Philharmonic rehearsing in the Berliner Philharmonie. ... The Bundesverdienstkreuz (the official name is Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) is the only general Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (November 5, 1895 – October 26, 1956) was a German pianist and composer. ... Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... The University of Chile (Spanish: Universidad de Chile) is one of the oldest universities in the Americas, and is the largest and arguably the most prestigious in Chile. ... City motto: La Capital del Sur de Chile The Capital of the South of Chile Also called Biobios Pearl Founded October 5, 1550, Original Name La Concepción de María Purísima del Nuevo Extremo Region Bío-Bío Region Area  - City Proper  222 km² Population  - City... For other uses, see Chile (disambiguation). ... For the 19th century Russian pianist and composer, see Anton Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Arthur Rubinstein (January 28, 1887 – December 20, 1982) was a Polish pianist who is widely considered as one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the 20th Century. ... Ernest Henry Schelling (26 July 1876 - 8 December 1939) was an American pianist, composer, and conductor. ... Alfred Denis Cortot (September 26, 1877 – June 15, 1962) was a French pianist and conductor. ... José Vianna da Motta (São Tomé, April 22, 1868-Lisbon, June 1, 1948) was a Portuguese pianist, teacher, and composer. ... Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German:   //, Italian: Ginevra //, Romansh: Genevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ... Politics of Chile Politics of Chile Political parties in Chile Elections in Chile: President: 1970 - 1989 - 2005 Government Chile is a republic with an elected President and a bicameral Congress. ... LAcadémie Charles Cros, the French equivalent of the US Recording Academy, is named in honor of Charles Cros. ...

• Schumann: Piano Concerto, Carnaval; Beethoven: Sonata No.32. EMI Classics DVD (Classic Archives series)

Grand Prix du Disque: For others with the same name see Robert Schumann (disambiguation). ... “Beethoven” redirects here. ... LAcadémie Charles Cros, the French equivalent of the US Recording Academy, is named in honor of Charles Cros. ...

• Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series) (1990)

Warsaw Chopin Society's Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin : “Chopin” redirects here. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...

• Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series) (1990)

FFFF de Télérama: “Chopin” redirects here. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...

• Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series)

Diapason d'Or: “Chopin” redirects here. ...

• Chopin: Études Op.10 & Op.25. EMI Classics CD (Références series)

“Chopin” redirects here. ...

Quotes

An interpreter must give his blood to the work interpreted. — Claudio Arrau

Since in music we deal with notes, not words, with chords, with transitions, with color and expression, the musical meaning always based on those notes as written and nothing else - has to be divined. Therefore any musician, no matter how great an instrumentalist, who is not also an interpreter of a divinatory order, the way Furtwängler was, or Fischer-Dieskau is, is somehow one-sided, somehow without spiritual grandeur. — Claudio Arrau

References

1. ^ Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Pianists from Mozart to the Present, Simon & Schuster, Second Edition (1987)

External links

• ArrauHouse. The most thorough and comprehensive website on Maestro Claudio Arrau
• Claudio Arrau, official site
• Biographical sketch for Claudio Arrau
• Discographie, repertoire et informations
• Remembering Claudio Arrau on the tenth anniversary of his passing from Unitel
• Decca & Philips' Biography and Discography of Claudio Arrau
• Marston Records' Biography of Claudio Arrau
• Biography of Claudio Arrau from Answers.com
• A comprehensive discography in French
• Biography of Claudio Arrau in Spanish
• Pianist Claudio.com
• Biography of Claudio Arrau in Spanish
• Article of Claudio Arrau from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
• Article of Claudio Arrau from BBC Radio 3
• Profile for Claudio Arrau León on Find-A-Grave