A child prodigy from the age of four, Lazar Berman (1930-2005) was a student at the Moscow Conservatory and a prizewinner at the Queen Elisabeth and Franz Liszt Competitions in 1956, but was not authorized to perform outside the Soviet Union for more than twenty years. It was not until 1976 that he was 're-discovered' when he performed a memorable concert at the United Nations Organization with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati. Since that time Lazar Berman pursued an international career, performing with the very greatest orchestras under conductors such as Abbado, Karajan, Bernstein, Leinsdorf, ... and with whom he made more than a hundred recordings. In 1990 he moved to Italy. As a professor at Imola, he was regularly invited to sit on juries at international competitions and presided over the jury of the 1995 Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris.