Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel dies at 94: spokesman

Pianist Alfred Brendel joins the Berliner Philharmoniker playing Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, at Carnegie Hall in New York, in this Jan 27, 2006, file photo. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson, file) (STUART RAMSON/The Associated Press)

London, U.K. — Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, died in London on Tuesday, his spokesman said. He was 94.

“He died peacefully... and surrounded by his loved ones,” spokesman Thomas Hull told AFP.

Tributes began pouring in to Brendel, described by some as “a musical giant”.

Brendel, who had lived in London for more than 50 years, had a reputation for being modest, self-effacing and intensely self-critical.

He gave only short, quick bows when entering or leaving the stage of his always sell-out recitals. The Guardian newspaper said once he was never one “for fireworks and histrionics”.

Brendel began playing the piano at the age of six and had little formal training after the age of 16.

He was best known for his performances of the great European composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Liszt.

An Austrian citizen, born on Jan. 5, 1931, in Wiesenberg in northern Moravia, now the Czech Republic, Brendel spent his childhood travelling throughout Yugoslavia and Austria.

Following the Second World War, the family moved to Graz in Austria, where Brendel studied at the city’s conservatory.

When he retired from concert performances in Vienna in December 2008, he was asked what he would miss most.

“The adrenalin,” he said. And “in spite of all those obnoxious coughers and the mobile telephones and hearing aids going off,” he would miss the public, too, Brendel said.

The Royal Philharmonic Society mourned the passing of “a musical giant with the tenderest touch” in a post on the social network X.

“His performances will blaze in memory; his recordings will inspire for generations to come.”