About the win

Maurizio Pollini won the sixth edition in 1960 at just eighteen. Jury chairman Arthur Rubinstein is famously reported to have said that the young Italian already played better than any of the judges. Pollini became one of the towering pianists of his time.

Key facts

• Won in 1960 at the age of eighteen.
• Praised by jury chairman Arthur Rubinstein as playing better than the jurors themselves.
• Built a vast Deutsche Grammophon discography spanning Chopin, Beethoven and modern composers such as Boulez and Nono.
• Also active as a conductor; regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th and 21st centuries.