Maurizio Pollini is an Italian concert pianist whose list of achievements as a performer is extensive to say the least. Pollini achieved worldwide fame in 1960 when he won the prestigious International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, following a win in 1959 of the International Ettore Pozzoli Piano Competition in his home country of Italy. His winning of the Chopin Piano Competition was ensured when the jury's leader, the great pianist Arthur Rubinstein, proclaimed that the young artist could play the piano better than any of the pianists on the panel (including himself). Pollini, as a performer, can be a polarizing figure due to his extremely cerebral interpretations of the music, often, as some feel, at the expense of passion and expressiveness. However, many more feel that his cerebral style sets him apart from other pianists, and brings to light new and interesting ways of considering the repertoire. Pollini's 1971 recordings of Igor Stravinsky's Three Movements from Petrouchka and Sergei Prokofiev's Seventh Sonata for the Deutsche Grammophon label are considered to be some of the 20th Century's most historically significant performances.
