radu lupu (30 november 1945 – 17 april 2022) was a romanian pianist. he was known by many to be one of the best pianists at the time of his death. born in galați, romania, lupu began learning piano when he was six years old. two of his major piano teachers were florica musicescu, who was also the teacher of dinu lipatti, and heinrich neuhaus, who was also the teacher of sviatoslav richter and emil gilels. from 1966 to 1969, he won first prizes of three of the world's most famous piano competitions: the van cliburn international piano competition (1966), the george enescu international piano competition (1967), and the leeds international pianoforte competition (1969). these victories started lupu's career all over the world and he has appeared with all of the famous orchestras and at all of the famous festivals and music capitals of the world.