Pianist Nicholas Angelich, one of the world’s finest interpreters of Brahms, died early today in Paris of a rare lung disease, I’ve just learned. Angelich, 51, has lived in Paris for many years, having first gone there at age 13 to study at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique.

Angelich was born in Cincinnati, and began studying piano at age 5 with his mother, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 467 in concert at age 7. His father, violinist Borivoje Angelich, was a long-time member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

I’ll never forget his 2009 performance of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, which he performed with the CSO led by then-music director Paavo Järvi. Nicholas’ father was playing in the violin section, which must have been a moving experience for father and son.

Here’s a bit from my review of that concert: It was a treat to hear him play Brahms’ D Minor Concerto, one of the most emotional masterpieces this composer ever wrote. It weighs drama and turmoil against enormous lyrical beauty, and pianists may be tempted to tackle it with too much bombast.

Nicholas built his career mainly in Europe, and released a number of excellent recordings. His award-winning discography includes the Brahms Piano Concertos with Paavo Järvi and the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra as well as the majority of Brahms’ piano music and chamber music; Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Gil Shaham and Anne Gastinel; and solo recordings of works by Bach, Liszt, Beethoven, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and many others.

One of my favorites is his recording of the Brahms piano trios with Renaud Capuçon and Gautier Capuçon for Erato Records.

We should learn more in the coming days, but this is a great loss to the piano world. The news comes on the same day that we also learn the great Romanian pianist Radu Lupu has passed away, and just after our friend to the Linton Series, Joseph Kalichstein, has died. Rest in Peace.