27 Facts About Claudio Arrau

Claudio Arrau Leon was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms.

Claudio Arrau is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.

Arrau was born in Chillan, Chile, the son of Carlos Arrau, an ophthalmologist who died when Claudio was only a year old, and Lucrecia Leon Bravo de Villalba, a piano teacher.

Claudio Arrau belonged to an old, prominent family of Southern Chile.

Claudio Arrau was raised as a Catholic, but gave it up in his late teens.

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Claudio Arrau was a child prodigy and he could read music before he could read words, but unlike many virtuosos, there had never been a professional musician in his family.

Claudio Arrau's mother was an amateur pianist and introduced him to the instrument.

When Claudio Arrau was 6 he auditioned in front of several congressmen and President Pedro Montt, who was so impressed that he began arrangements for Claudio Arrau's future education.

At age 8, Claudio Arrau was sent on a ten-year-long grant from the Chilean government to study in Germany, travelling with his mother and sister Lucrecia.

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

Krause died in his fifth year of teaching Claudio Arrau, leaving the 15-year-old student devastated by the loss of his mentor; Claudio Arrau did not continue formal study after that point.

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

In 1936, Claudio Arrau gave a complete Mozart keyboard works over 5 recitals, and followed with the complete Schubert and Weber cycles.

In 1938, for the first time, Claudio Arrau gave the complete Beethoven piano sonatas and concertos in Mexico City.

Claudio Arrau repeated this several times in his lifetime, including in New York and London.

Claudio Arrau became one of the leading authorities on Beethoven in the 20th century.

In 1937, Claudio Arrau married mezzo-soprano Ruth Schneider, a German national.

In 1941 the Claudio Arrau family emigrated from Germany to the United States, eventually settling in Douglaston, Queens, New York, where Claudio Arrau spent his remaining years.

Claudio Arrau's remains were interred in his native city of Chillan, Chile.

Claudio Arrau read widely while travelling, and he learned English, Italian, German, and French in addition to his native Spanish.

Claudio Arrau became familiar with Jung's psychology in his twenties.

Claudio Arrau preached fidelity to the score, but the use of imagination.

Claudio Arrau was a man of remarkable fortitude; even towards the end of his life he invariably programmed very large, demanding concerts, including works such as Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and Brahms' Piano Concerto No 1.

Claudio Arrau was a frequent recital performer: from age 40 to 60 he averaged 120 concerts a season, with a very large repertoire.

Claudio Arrau recorded a considerable part of the piano music of Schumann, Chopin and Liszt.

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Claudio Arrau is famous for his recordings of Schubert, Brahms and Debussy.

At the time of his death at age 88 in the midst of a European concert tour, Claudio Arrau was working on a recording of the complete works of Bach for keyboard, and was preparing some pieces of Haydn, Mendelssohn, Reger and Busoni, and Boulez's third piano sonata.