The Romanian Radu Lupu (1945–2022) was a pianist’s pianist: one his contemporaries admired and younger musicians hoped to emulate. What was it about his playing that was so special? According to Mitsuko Uchida (herself a major pianist), Lupu coaxed a uniquely wide gradation of expression and colour from the keyboard. He also had a pearly singing tone, as can be heard here in The Old Castle (from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition) and the finale of Schumann’s Faschingsswank Aus Wien, Op. 26. 

Lupu played and recorded a considerable amount in the early years of his career, making over 20 recordings for Decca between 1970 and 1994. He was not contracted to a company from then on, and little of his later work was made available (usually only in live recordings). He had a reticent public personality, refusing to give interviews from the word go, and holding himself to the highest standards musically. He was plagued by self-doubt throughout his life.

Nevertheless, during those Decca years, he gave us highly regarded recordings, including the Five Beethoven Piano Concertos (with Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic), the Schumann and Grieg Concertos (with Previn and the LSO), the Franck, Debussy and Ravel Violin Sonatas (with Kyung Wha Chung), and solo music by Schubert and Schumann. 

The works in this new set are from the same period. CDs 1 (Mozart’s Piano Quartets Nos. 1 and 2, with members of the Tel Aviv String Quartet), and 2 (Schubert’s Piano Sonatas in C, D840, and D, D850) are the sole studio recordings here; the rest are from live concerts from Europe and the UK. All reveal his singularly thoughtful playing and lucid touch, sometimes (as in Mussorgsky’s Gnomus) unconventional in terms of tempo and/or dynamics – and yet it always works. 

The great benefit of this release is hearing Lupu in music he played rarely and never recorded commercially: aside from the Mussorgsky, we have Bartók’s Out of Doors (where the pianist pulls no punches, slamming out the fortissimos); Aaron Copland’s Piano Sonata (I have never heard the Scherzo played so freely), and a tenderly flowing Chopin Nocturne No. 8 in D-flat. Equally rare are two delightful Haydn Piano Sonatas: in D, and No. 33 in C minor. 

Lupu’s Schumann was already familiar, but here we get live performances of the Études Symphoniques, played with formidable strength, and the volatile Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp. The only concerto here is the charming Piano Concerto No. 18 in B♭ by Mozart. The Southwest Radio Symphony Orchestra under Kazimierz Kord is soft-edged, but Lupu’s pianism is pristine, bright and sparkling. He was a superb Mozartian. Sound quality varies slightly throughout this set, as it was recorded over a long time span and in many different venues, but it is never less than adequate. 

The collection is urgently recommended to lovers of the piano.

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Title: Radu Lupu: The Unreleased Recordings
Works: Music by Mozart, Schumann, Mussorgsky et al.
Performer:  Radu Lupu p
Label: DECCA 4871494 (6CD)