Claudio Arrau

Claudio Arrau León (; 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. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.

Life Arrau was born in Chillán, Chile, to Carlos Arrau, an ophthalmologist who died when Claudio was only one year old, and Lucrecia León Bravo de Villalba, a piano teacher. He belonged to an old, prominent family of Southern Chile. His ancestor Lorenzo de Arrau was a Spanish engineer who 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 Scottish noble family. Arrau was raised as a Catholic, but gave it up in his late teens.

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. His mother was an amateur pianist and introduced him to the instrument. At the age of four, he was reading Beethoven sonatas, and he gave his first concert a year later. When Arrau was six, he auditioned in front of several congressmen and President Pedro Montt, who was so impressed that he began arrangements for Arrau's future education. 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. Arrau's first recordings were made on Aeolian Duo-Art player piano music rolls. Krause died in his fifth year of teaching Arrau, leaving the 15-year-old student devastated by the loss of his mentor; Arrau did not continue formal study after that point. On August 17, 1982, the first CD of classical music in history was released by the PolyGram record company; its content consisted of waltzes by Chopin performed by Claudio Arrau.

Arrau died on June 9, 1991, at the age of 88, in Mürzzuschlag, Austria, from complications of emergency surgery performed on June 8 to correct an intestinal blockage. His remains were interred in his native city of Chillán, Chile.

Tone and approach to music Arrau was an intellectual and a deeply reflective interpreter. He read widely while travelling, and he learned English, Italian, German, and French in addition to his native Spanish. He became familiar with Jung's psychology in his twenties.

Arrau's attitude toward music was very serious. He preached fidelity to the score, but also the use of imagination. Although he often played with slower and more deliberate tempi from his middle age onward, he had a reputation as a fabulous virtuoso earlier in his career, a reputation supported by recordings he made at this time, such as Balakirev's Islamey and Liszt's Paganini études. However, even late in his career, he often tended to play with less restraint in live concerts than in studio recordings.

Arrau's work continued and even towards the end of his life he invariably programmed large, demanding concerts, including works such as Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1.

Critics

Olin Downes, reviewing a recital of Mozart, Schumann, Ravel and Debussy works in The New York Times, described Claudio Arrau as "a pianist of most exceptional equipment, imagination and unfailing taste." Joachim Kaiser: "Arrau is the noblest, the most conscientious, most respectable pianist of our time." Sir Colin Davis said: "His sound is amazing, and it is entirely his own... no one else has it exactly that way. His devotion to Liszt is extraordinary. He ennobles that music in a way no one else in the world can." Karl Schumann, Germany's leading music critic, said in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on June 2, 1986: "Is it not Claudio Arrau who is the most musical and deeply serious piano phenomenon of our time?". According to Joseph Horowitz: "His earliest recordings, extending into the forties, are his most mercurial, and are buffed with the glistening tonal refinements mentioned in his early New York reviews. His recorded performances of the following decade or so are more majestically placed; given room to maneuver, he is more likely to linger than to bolt. (...) Then, sometimes around 1960, the recordings document a different change. An emerging undercurrent of raw feeling not only dictates yet slower tempos and grander rubatos, but adds to the dignified architecture of Arrau's sound a steady projection of human frailty. (...) How did this change come about? (...) At the risk of resorting to cut-rate psychology, I am tempted to cite, as well, the event Arrau recalls as 'the greatest shock in my life': his mother's death in 1959. Perhaps mourning opened new emotional pathways. Perhaps the disappearance of a pervasive authority figure freed or emboldened him to make a more vulnerable statement in his art." John von Rhein wrote in 1991 in the Chicago Tribune: "He was among the least flamboyant of pianists, avoiding virtuosic display as rigorously as some pianists seek it out; yet there was never any doubt of his virtuoso technique. He commanded a rich sonority, each chord superbly weighted, the fingerwork a model of finely chiseled clarity, the shape of each phrase deeply considered. Sometimes Mr. Arrau's penchant for slow tempos and emphasis on inner detail could seem fussy, depriving his performances of spontaneity and momentum. At his considerable best, however, he was among the most deeply satisfying interpreters of Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin and particularly Beethoven, whose works held a position in his repertoire comparable to that of his great colleague, pianist Rudolf Serkin.

Honours

Arrau commemorative plaque in the German district of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, in Berlin.

List of awards, recognitions and medals awarded to Claudio Arrau. 1915–1918: 1915: Prize Rudolph Ibach Gustav Holländer Medal Sachsen-Gothaische Medal 1918: Stern Conservatory's Exceptional Honours Diploma in Piano 1919–1920: Liszt Prize in Germany 1924: Permanent Active Member of the Bach Society in Santiago de Chile) 1927: Grand Prix of the Concours International des Pianistes (International Pianist Competition) from Geneva, Suiza. The jury was composed by Arthur Rubinstein, Joseph Pembauer, Ernest Schelling, Alfred Cortot and José Vianna da Motta. 1941: Illustrious Son of Chillán 1944: Gold Medal in Appreciation from the Chilean government 1949: Favorite Son of Mexico 1949: Honorary degree from the University of Chile 1954: Honorary Member of the University of Chile's Faculty of Music 1954: Illustrious Son of Santiago 1958: Royal Philharmonic Society medal 1959: Honorary Citizen from Santiago 1959: Worthy Son of Chillán 1959: Gold Medal and Honorary Citizen of Concepción 1959: Honorary Member of the University of Concepción 1965: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France 1970: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1973: Citation by United Jewish Appeal for support and contribution in solidarity with the Jewish people 1980: Hans von Bülow Medal by Berlin Philharmonic, Germany 1982: Doctor of Humane Letters by University of Vermont, United States 1983: La Orden del Águila Azteca (The Order of the Aztec Eagle) in Mexico 1983: Honorary Member of the Pan American Society 1983: The Philadelphia's bowl, United States 1983: First Honorary Member of the Düsseldorf, Germany Robert Schumann Society 1983: Commander of the Legion of Honor in France 1983: The International Music Award by UNESCO 1983: Commander of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia 1983: Beethoven's medal in New York City 1983: Honorary degree from the University of Oxford, England 1983: National Prize of Musical Arts of Chile 1984: Honorary degree from the University of Concepción 1984: Honorary degree from the University of Biobío 1984: Honorary Member from Academy of Fine Arts of Chile 1984: Highest Distinction Award from the Inter-American Music Council and the Organization of American States 1986: Freedom Award from the Mayor of the New York City 1988: The Teresa Carreño Medal in Venezuela 1988: Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society of London 1990: Gold Medal from the Royal Philharmonic Society of London (posthumously delivered to his daughter Carmen) 1991: Unfinished Arrau performance with his Robert Schumann Medal at a recital scheduled for June 1991 in Düsseldorf, Germany. 1991: The Robert Schumann Society established the Arrau Medal in 1991. The medal is awarded to a pianist who is especially committed to the spirit and tradition of Claudio Arrau's keyboard art. 1991: Cultural Medal known as Citizen of the World, awarded by the Palacio de la Moneda de Chile. 2012: Entry into the Gramophone Hall of Fame

Partial discography Beethoven, Conc. pf. n. 4, 5 – Arrau/Haitink/CGO, 1964 Philips Beethoven, Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 – Claudio Arrau/Sir Colin Davis/Staatskapelle Dresden, Philips Beethoven, The 5 Piano Concertos – Claudio Arrau/Sir Colin Davis/Staatskapelle Dresden, 1988 Philips Beethoven, Sonatas. pf. n. 1–32 – Arrau, 1964 Decca Beethoven, Sonatas. pf. n. 8, 14, 23 – Arrau, 1962/1967 Decca Beethoven: The Late Piano Sonatas, Op. 101, 106, 109, 110, & 111 – Claudio Arrau, Philips Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas – Claudio Arrau, Decca Chopin, Ballate n. 1-4/Scherzi n. 1–4 – Arrau, 1977/1984 Decca Chopin, Claudio Arrau Plays Chopin – Arrau/Inbal/LPO, Decca Chopin, Conc. pf. n. 1-2/Krakowiak – Arrau/Inbal/LPO, 1970/1980 Philips Chopin, Nocturnes n. 1–21 – Arrau, 1978/1980 Philips Chopin, Valzer n. 1–19 – Arrau, 1980 Decca Chopin, 26 Preludes & 4 Impromptus – Claudio Arrau, Philips Chopin: Études Op. 10 and Op. 25 – Claudio Arrau, 1957 EMI Great Recordings of the Century Debussy: Preludes & Images & Estampes – Claudio Arrau, 1991 Philips Liszt, 12 Etudes d'exécution transcendante – Claudio Arrau, 1977 Philips Liszt: Sonata in B Minor, 2 Études de concert – Claudio Arrau, Philips Mozart, Son. pf. n. 1-18/Fant./Rondò – Arrau, 1973/1987 Decca Schubert: Late Piano Sonatas – Claudio Arrau, Decca Schumann: Carnaval; Kinderszenen; Waldszenen – Claudio Arrau, 1987 Philips Arrau, Beethoven/Chopin/Liszt – Davis/LSO, 1976/1985 Decca Arrau, The legacy – Bach/Beethoven/Schubert/Debussy, 1988/1991 Decca

Filmography Year Title Role 1935 Sueño de amor Franz Liszt 1935 Thy Son 1957 Claudio Arrau Concert 1976 Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture 1978 Claudio Arrau: A Life in Music 1987 Claudio Arrau: The Emperor 1993 The Golden Age of the Piano 1999 The Art of Piano: Great Pianists of the 20th Century

Books 1984: Leben mit der Musik (with Joseph Horowitz) 1985: Arrau parle: conversations avec Joseph Horowitz (with Joseph Horowitz) 2009: Liszt: A Listener's Guide to His Piano Works (with John Bell Young)