Beloved Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel has died aged 94

17 June 2025, 16:49 | Updated: 17 June 2025, 16:51

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

The pianist Alfred Brendel, one of the most respected artists of the last century, has died at the age of 94.

Austrian classical pianist Alfred Brendel has died aged 94.

Born in Czechia on 5 January 1931, Brendel was a celebrated interpreter of Beethoven’s piano music, having made the first complete recording of the composer’s piano works.

Across a six-decade career, Brendel’s meticulous technique and exquisite emotional sensitivity made him one of the most revered pianists of his generation.

Known primarily for his interpretations of Beethoven’s music, the Austrian pianist is also credited with popularising many of the pieces we know and love today. He was instrumental in championing Haydn as a composer, cemented Schubert’s sonatas and Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto in the piano repertoire, and played a key role in reviving interest in Liszt’s writing for the instrument.

Ever the attentive performer, Alfred Brendel saw the primary job of a pianist as respecting the composer’s wishes: “I am responsible to the composer,” he once said, “and particularly to the piece.”

Alfred Brendel - Schubert - Four Impromptus, D 899

Alfred Brendel was born on 5 January 1931 in Czechia. He began piano lessons at age six after the Brendel family moved to Zagreb, and continued his studies at the Graz Conservatory in Austria.

Brendel’s studies were interrupted when, at 14 years old, he was sent over the Yugoslav border to dig trenches. Before he reached the front line, however, he got frostbite on his heels and was sent to hospital. “My mother found out where I was and got me out,” he later recalled.

After the end of the war, Brendel returned to Austria and to piano-playing, but never received further tuition. He chose instead to take the self-taught route, with the exception of a handful of piano masterclasses. In fact, he was later certain that this had only benefitted his career, saying he hadn’t been “hindered or damaged by teachers”.

Brendel made his concert debut at 17 years old in Graz, with a programme including works by Bach, Brahms, Liszt, and a sonata he had penned himself.

Brendel would go on to win fourth prize at the Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition at Bolzano in 1949, aged 18, and build the foundations of his international reputation with tours to Europe and Latin America.

After six illustrious decades, during which Brendel performed alongside a near-exhaustive list of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, the great pianist announced in 2007 that he would retire from public concerts the following year.

He made his final New York performance with a much-lauded programme on 20 February 2008 at Carnegie Hall, a venue he had performed in 81 times since his debut in January 1973. Brendel’s final farewell concert took place on 18 December 2008 in Vienna, where he performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.9 with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Charles Mackerras.

Following his retirement from the concert stage, Brendel turned his focus to his second love: literature. A poet, essayist and lecturer, his writing has been published in numerous languages.

Brendel received an honorary knighthood in 1989, was honorary vice-president of London’s Royal Academy of Music, and holds 23 honorary degrees from renowned universities including Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, Juilliard.

Alfred Brendel died peacefully in his London home on 17 June 2025, at the age of 94, surrounded by his loved ones.

Cellist Steven Isserlis had led tributes from the classical world, writing that Brendel was “a beacon of civilisation, a deeply cultured man who loved music passionately, shared that love widely, and never compromised artistically or personally.”

Fellow pianist Igor Levit described Brendel as “a unique musician and artist”, adding, “a giant has passed away”.

He is remembered and celebrated by his partner Maria Majno, Irene Brendel, his four children Doris, Adrian, Sophie and Katharina, and four grandchildren.