It was all I could do to whip together a post about the passing of Harrison Birtwistle last night; but we also lost another major musician yesterday – the reclusive Romanian pianist Radu Lupu.

Lupu is still a frequent presence on classical radio playlists, despite the fact that he hasn’t made a commercial recording since the mid-‘90s. Most of those performances are from his years as a Decca recording artist. Lupu continued to appear in concert, though he shunned publicity, denying interview requests and, when possible, permission for his concerts to be broadcast.

He retired in 2019, after a long period of ill health, during which he frequently wound up canceling his engagements. He was a widely-respected interpreter of the core repertoire, especially fine in music of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, among others.

Radu Lupu was 76 years-old.

As soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19

Joined by Murray Perahia in a superb performance of Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor

From a Carnegie Hall recital in 1994, Schumann’s Fantasy in C

Brahms’ Ballade in G minor

More Brahms: his final encore, from February 2019