Maurizio Pollini

Maurizio Pollini was born in Milan, the son of rationalist architect Gino Pollini. He studied at the Milan Conservatory under Carlo Lonati and Carlo Vidusso. In 1960, at age 18, Pollini stunned the international music world by winning first prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where jury chairman Arthur Rubinstein famously declared: "That boy can play the piano better than any of us!"

Rather than rushing into an immediate commercial touring career, Pollini withdrew for several years to deepen his musical knowledge and study with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. He emerged as one of the titanic pianists of the 20th century. Over five decades of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, his recordings of Chopin's Études, Beethoven's late sonatas, and Schubert set undisputed gold standards of clarity, architectural balance, and emotional restraint. A lifelong leftist intellectual, Pollini championed contemporary composers, organizing historic concert series that paired avant-garde masterworks with the core classical canon.