Bernard Roberts

Bernard Roberts has an ability to make one hear fresh details in a familiar piece - Malcolm Miller, reviewing a 2004 recital of music by Stephen Dodgson

English pianist and teacher Bernard Roberts was born in Manchester on 23 July 1933 into a musical family - his mother studied with Egon Petri and his father was on the music staff of the Manchester Guardian - and won a scholarship to London's Royal College of Music, where he studied with Eric Harrison. Later he took lessons from Ferdinand Rauter.

Roberts, known for his cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas and his recordings of J S Bach, also played chamber music, and collaborated on recordings of music by Frank Bridge and Paul Hindemith. He played throughout Europe, America and the Far East.

He taught at London's Royal College of Music for more than forty years, and also regularly at Dartington Summer School. He gave masterclasses at many festivals, and at the Van Cliburn Piano Institute in the USA.

Bernard Roberts retired to North Wales, near Harlech, continuing to give masterclasses in Snowdonia, and died on 3 November 2013, aged eighty.

A selection of articles about Bernard Roberts

CD Spotlight. A Spectral Atmosphere - Murray McLachlan plays music by Shostakovich and friends, recommended by Howard Smith. '... an outright triumph for the label and for McLachlan.'

Ensemble. A Brilliant Idea - A Bernard Stevens celebration at London's Wigmore Hall, reviewed by Bill Newman

Ensemble. Much to applaud - Malcolm Miller reports on an impressive array of talent at the BPSE Beethoven Chamber Music Competition 2005

Ensemble. Engaging and colourful - Bernard Roberts plays music by Stephen Dodgson, reviewed by Malcolm Miller

Ensemble. Warmth and communicability - Bernard Roberts' Romantic pianism launches the Glenilla concert season. Malcolm Miller listens

Brilliant Beethoven - Malcolm Miller attends the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Celebrity Concert, given by Bernard Roberts

Striving heavenwards - Malcolm Miller attends the Kendall Taylor Memorial Concert

Ensemble - Styles of our time - Malcolm Miller at the world première of Stephen Dodgson's Trio No 3