Valentin Gheorghiu
Romanian pianist and composer Valentin Gheorghiu was born in GalaĊ£i on 21 March 1928. He began to play aged four, and studied at the Bucharest Academy of Music and then at the Conservatoire de Paris with French pianist Lazare Lévy.
At his first concert as a soloist with orchestra, aged fifteen, he played Beethoven's first piano concerto with the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor George Georgescu. Initially he could only play in Eastern European countries, but after 1957 he also performed in Japan, Israel, North America and Western Europe, and was also able to serve as a jury member on many international competitions.
His repertoire included contemporary works by Romanian composers such as Paul Constantinescu, George Enescu and himself, and he also played music by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov and Schubert.
His own compositions included two symphonies, a piano concerto, a Burlesque for piano and orchestra and chamber works.
Valentin Gheorghiu died on 17 July 2023, aged ninety-five.