(Rio de Janeiro) Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire, one of the most recognized in the world, died Monday morning at his home in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 77, his record company and the press said.
“We are extremely sorry […] of the death of the legendary Nelson Freire, ”Decca Classics wrote in a tweet.
“He was an exceptionally gifted pianist and musician, one of the most subtle performers, both in concert and in the studio. He leaves a legacy of many records. May he rest in peace, ”Decca continues.
The cause of the disappearance of this great interpreter of Chopin was not specified by his agent, cited by the Brazilian press.
Extremely precocious, Nelson Freire had started playing at the age of 3 and giving recitals at 5 years old.
The virtuoso was born on October 18, 1944 in Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil. From a very young age, he followed an international career which allowed him to be recognized as one of the major pianists of his time, especially in the romantic repertoire, and won him numerous awards.
The greatest Brazilian pianist was particularly celebrated for his ease and technical elegance and the brilliance of his interpretations of Chopin, but also of Schumann, Liszt or Brahms.
He has played with the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and under the direction of Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur and André Prévin.
“He is one of the most inspiring pianists of all time,” wrote the American magazine. Time, after his first concert in New York.
He was very close to the famous Argentine pianist Martha Argerich, with whom he gave a large number of concerts.
Bad fall
Having a bad fall in Rio de Janeiro at the end of 2019, Nelson Freire broke his right arm and had to undergo shoulder surgery.
He never really recovered and would have been in depression, according to the testimonies of some of his friends quoted by the press.
The pianist, who lived in Joatinga, a seaside area near Barra de Tijuca, in western Rio, has not played the piano again since.
He was scheduled to perform in public again last year, but the performances were canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Brazilian Foreign Ministry – the Culture Ministry having been suppressed by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro – regretted the death of “one of the greatest Brazilian musicians of all time”.
Many tributes poured into social media after his disappearance. The French violinist Renaud Capuçon thus expressed on Twitter his “immense sadness” after the death of this “poet of the piano”, this “exquisite being”.
The Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater confirmed to AFP that Nelson Freire’s coffin would be exhibited there Tuesday afternoon for a vigil.