ABOUT MARIA CURCIO
Classical musician who taught such future luminaries as Martha Argerich , Radu Lupu, Leon Fleisher , and Geoffrey Tozer .
She refused to play the piano for Benito Mussolini when she was seven. She earned her degree from Naples Conservatory when she was 14.
She collaborated with fellow musicians Benjamin Britten , Otto Klemperer , Josef Krips, and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
Her father was Italian, but her mother was Jewish-Brazilian. Her mother had been taught piano by Ferruccio Busoni . Her husband had an affair with Marlene Dietrich , leading to their divorce in 1971.
She was Artur Schnabel 's last student, and it was his teachings that influenced how she educated her students.
