Overview

• He died on June 17 at his London home, peacefully and surrounded by family, according to his spokesperson.
• Over a six-decade career, Brendel produced benchmark Beethoven sonata cycles in 1962, the 1970s and 1990s and retired after a farewell recital at Vienna’s Musikverein in 2008.
• Born in 1931 in Moravia (now the Czech Republic) and raised in Graz, he rose to international acclaim in the early 1970s as a leading interpreter of classical repertoire.
• After retiring from the stage, he devoted himself to lectures and masterclasses worldwide and authored essays and poetry in French and German.
• He received the 2004 Ernst-von-Siemens Music Prize and was lauded by the Royal Philharmonic Society and cellist Steven Isserlis for his cultured, uncompromising artistry.