ROME: Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini, a virtuoso of Chopin and Beethoven who enjoyed a decades-long collaboration with La Scala, died on Saturday age 82, the Milan opera house announced.

He had been in poor health in recent years and obliged to cancel some concerts.

La Scala called the pianist “one of the great musicians of our time and a fundamental reference in the artistic life of the theatre for over 50 years”.

From 1958 to his last recital in February last year, Pollini played at La Scala 168 times, it said.

“Pollini was an interpreter capable of revolutionising the perception of Chopin, Debussy and Beethoven himself, and of promoting ... listening to the historical avant-gardes, above all Schnberg, and the music of today,” said a spokesperson for La Scala.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2024