Pianist renowned for performances of Bach and Beethoven
The pianist Bernard Roberts, highly regarded for his impeccable performances of classical and romantic repertoire, has died at the age of 80. His cycle of Beethoven sonatas, recorded in the mid-1980s, was the first on CD and repeatedly attracted critics' plaudits for its clarity of tone and firmness of articulation; innocent of exaggerated gestures or idiosyncrasy, his playing was admired not least for its unaffected quality. In Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier – like the Beethoven, both books were recorded for Nimbus – he deployed crisp ornamentation and strongly sculpted contrapuntal lines in unvarnished but nevertheless engaging accounts. He also recorded Bach's Partitas and French Suites and Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and Eroica Variations for the same label.
While the compact disc's emergence coincided with the growth of interest in period-instrument performance, Roberts continued to use a modern concert grand. His remarkable partnership with the Monmouth-based record company had already led to him recording all the Beethoven sonatas for LP in the 1970s, and in both mediums he recorded movements complete, "direct to disc", without any retakes or edits. His rhythmic acuity stood him in good stead in his readings of the three piano sonatas and Ludus Tonalis by Hindemith, all of which he likewise recorded for Nimbus, the composer's sharply etched profiles suiting him to a tee.
Debussy, Bartók and Stephen Dodgson were also among later composers he interpreted. As with Hindemith, the angularity of Dodgson's music appealed to him, though he was also responsive to the latter's more romantic side, and recorded six of his piano sonatas on the Claudio Contemporary label.
A distinguished chamber musician, Roberts formed a celebrated trio with the violinist Manoug Parikian and cellist Amaryllis Fleming from 1975 to 1983 (after which Roberts dropped out to be replaced by Hamish Milne). He also played with ensembles such as the Chilingirian String Quartet and the Wind Soloists of the English Chamber Orchestra, and with the violinists Norbert Brainin and Nona Liddell.
Roberts was born in Manchester, where his mother had been a pupil of the pianist Egon Petri, and his father was a librarian who acted as a music critic for the Manchester Guardian. He studied there with Dora Gilson, and from William Hulme's grammar school went to the Royal College of Music in London, where his teachers were Eric Harrison and Ferdinand Rauter. He made his London debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1957, and became a professor at the RCM in 1962.
From 1965 to 1972 he was the pianist in the Tononi Piano Trio (with Jürgen Hess and Olga Hegedus) while the Parikian-Fleming-Roberts Trio allowed him to explore both classical and more contemporary repertoire: a Piano Trio was commissioned from Hugh Wood in 1984, for example. In 1990 he formed the Bernard Roberts Trio with his sons Andrew and Nicholas, and he continued to enjoy investigating the piano trio repertoire with them.
An international career as both solo and concerto pianist – notably in Mozart, with a Proms performance of No 21 in 1979, and Beethoven – took him to all the major festivals at home and abroad. For many years he was a regular at the Dartington International Summer School and he also gave masterclasses at such centres as the Van Cliburn Piano Institute in Fort Worth, Texas.
He was a devotee of birdwatching, model railways and reading, particularly history and philosophy.
In 1955 he married Pat Russell. They divorced in 1988, and four years later he married Caroline Ireland. She survives him, as do Andrew and Nicholas, his sons from his first marriage.
• Bernard Roberts, pianist, born 23 July 1933; died 3 November 2013