- Walter Klien
Walter Klien (
November 27 ,1928 -February 10 ,1991 ) was an Austrian pianist.Career
Klien was born in
Graz . His mother was the artistErika Giovanna Klien (1900-1957). She emigrated to the United States in 1929, and their only further contact was by correspondence.Klien studied piano with Josef Dichler at the Music Academy in
Vienna and withArturo Benedetti Michelangeli . He also studied composition withPaul Hindemith .He was a laureate of the Busoni Competition in
Bolzano and the Marguerite Long Competition inParis and made his debut in theUnited States in 1969. He was awarded the Bosendorfer Prize in Vienna in 1953.Shortly before his death in 1991 he was honoured with the
Joseph Marx Music Prize in 1987 and the honorary gold medal of the city of Vienna in 1989.Recordings
His discography includes the complete solo piano works and many of the piano
concerto s of Mozart, the piano music of Brahms, as well as the completepiano sonata s of Schubert. He partneredArthur Grumiaux in recording the Mozart music for piano and violin.He performed and recorded piano duo and duet repertoire with his wife,
Beatriz Klien .He was much admired for his crystalline tone and projection of detail in his interpretations. His clarity of playing suited the music of Mozart and Schubert in particular. These qualities are also very evident in his Brahms recordings, where the dense textures of the writing can easily obscure the musical argument. A small number of critics continue to regard his complete Schubert sonatas as amongst the very finest yet recorded, not least for their unique Viennese lilt and unaffected ease.
David Dubal, in the second edition of "Reflections from the Keyboard", says "One of his finest achievements are his recordings of the complete piano music of Brahms, which he played with intelligence and a high degree of emotion."
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