Dinu Lipatti (March 19, 1917, Bucharest – December 2, 1950, Geneva) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was tragically cut short by his death from Hodgkin’s disease at age 33. Despite his short career and a relatively small recorded legacy, Lipatti is considered one of the finest pianists of the 20th century.
Lipatti gave his final recital, which was recorded, on 16 September 1950 in Besançon. Despite severe illness, he gave unmatched performances of Bach’s B flat major Partita, Mozart’s A minor Sonata, Schubert’s G flat major and E flat major Impromptus, and thirteen of Chopin’s 14 Waltzes. He excluded No. 2, which he was too exhausted to play; he offered instead Myra Hess’s transcription of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. As his wife Madeleine recalled, this was the only way Lipatti could bear to take his leave of the world, since, “For him a concert was a pledge of his love to Music.”
Choral “Jesus bleibet meine Freude” from Cantata “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben”, BWV 147 (arr. Hess) recorded in Geneva, 1950,
Siciliana from Sonata No. 2 for Flute and Harpsichord, BWV 1031 (arr. Kempff) recorded in Geneva, 1950.