One of the turning points in Gerhard Oppitz’s life was when he met Wilhelm Kempff in 1973. Oppitz was embarking on a promising career, and Kempff was to play the role of an almost paternal mentor in the process. He attained world renown a few years later when he won the coveted First Prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv, with 90-year-old Rubinstein himself sitting in the jury. In the course of his extended career, Oppitz has principally devoted his energies to exploring the Classical-Romantic piano repertoire in detail. His recordings of complete cycles – including the sonatas of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mozart – are milestones in his exceptional artistic trajectory; he is also widely acknowledged as one of the main leading Brahms interpreters. Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms are thus consequently the composers he will feature in the programme of his 22nd concert for the Ruhr Piano Festival.