Born in Brasov, Romania, he began studying piano at the age of six. He made his debut at the age of 12 with a pro - gramme consisting of personal piano works. He continued his studies with Florica Musicescu and Cella Delavrancea, won a schol - arship in 1961 at the Moscow Conservatoire where he studied with Heinrich and Stanislav Neuhaus. He won the first prize in three competitions:" Van Cliburn " (1966), " George Enescu " (1967)and Leeds (1969). In 1989 he was awarded the prestigious " Abbiati " prize, given by the Italian Critics ’Association. He is regularly invited to play with all the great orchestras of the world including the Berlin Philharmonic (with whom he made his Salzburg Festival debut in 1978 with Herbert von Karajan), the Vienna Philharmonic (with whom he opened the 1986 Salzburg Festival with Riccardo Muti), The Royal Concertgebouw - Amsterdam, all the major London orchestras and all the great American orchestras. His first major American appearance was in 1972 with the Cleveland Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim in New York and with the Chicago Symphony and Carlo Maria Giulini. He has played at all the major music festivals and has been a regular guest at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals. Radu Lupu 's recordings include:the Beethoven Piano Concertos with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, several Mozart concertos, Brahms no. 1, Grieg and Schumann, the complete Mozart violin and piano Sonatas (with Szymon Goldberg)and solo works by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Schubert (DECCA). He has also made recordings with Murray Perahia (CBS), Barbara Hendricks (EMI)and an album with four hands works by Schumann, with Daniel Barenboim (TELDEC). His album with Schubert 'sonatas won a Grammy. The album with Schumann 's works won an Edison Award (1995)as " The Best Instrumental Record of the Year " .

Back