Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Gerhard Oppitz :: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Opp. 79, 81a 'Les Adieux', 90, 101

Throughout his distinguished career, Gerhard Oppitz has established his deep understanding of Beethoven's idiom and now brings a lifetime of experience to commit these works to disc in a series of complete recordings. Oppitz is one of today's leading exponents of the German school of classical piano. His mentor, the great German pianist Wilhelm Kempff, personally designated him as heir-apparent to the tradition. Oppitz began to play piano at the age of five, and he debuted with a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor when he was eleven. His formal training included concentration on the works of Beethoven under the legendary Wilhelm Kempff. In 1977, he was awarded first prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Israel.