Nelson José Pinto Freire was born on 18 October 1944 in Boa Esperança, Brazil, and was a child prodigy who gave his first recital at the age of four. He studied in Rio de Janeiro with Nise Obino and Lucia Branco, the latter a pupil of a student of Liszt, and later in Vienna with Bruno Seidlhofer. He won the Vianna da Motta Competition in Lisbon in 1964, which launched his international career. He went on to appear with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He died in Rio de Janeiro on 1 November 2021.

Freire was regarded as one of the outstanding pianists of his generation, admired for a warm tone, unforced technique and interpretive depth rather than display. He recorded extensively for Sony Classical, Teldec, Philips and Decca, winning a Gramophone Award and the Diapason d’Or among other honours. His long musical and personal friendship with Martha Argerich produced a celebrated series of piano duo recordings and concerts. Notably reticent about publicity, he was the subject of the 2003 documentary film Nelson Freire by João Moreira Salles.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Freire