Oscar Gacitúa Weston

Óscar Gacitúa Weston (16 August 1925−5 December 2001) was a Chilean pianist.

Óscar Gacitúa Weston
Personal details
Born	(1925-08-16)16 August 1925 Talca, Chile
Died	5 December 2001(2001-12-05) (aged 76) Las Condes, Chile
Children	Three: Rebeca, Roberto and Oscar
Occupation	Pianist

His relationship with Claudio Arrau was decisive in his career^[1][2] as he was involved in his formation and got him a scholarship to study music in New York from 1950 to 1953. In that way, Gacitúa was also a disciple of Alberto Spikin during his time in New York.

Biography

Born in Talca in 1925, Gacitúa began his musical training when he was five.^[3] At eight, he made his debut with the violinist Pedro Dandurain^[3] and then, when he was 12, he performed in Santiago with the Symphony Orchestra.^[3] It was at Arrau's arguing that the piano stopped being a hobby for him.

In the 1950s, Gacitúa received very a positive review in the US, which has support when The New York Times stated "Chile, that has already produced with Claudio Arrau a pianist of first magnitude, it seems to have another with Gacitúa."^[3] Similarly, he received offers to start an international career as a soloist. However, he chose to return to the country because he "preferred to settle in Chile and be a mouse head" as he said in an interview in 1990.

Death

On 5 December 2001, Gacitúa committed suicide at the Alcántara metro station of the Santiago Metro; he was 76 years old.^[4][5] According his daughter Rebeca, he suffered depression^[3] and his other son Óscar couldn't stop Gacitúa Weston's desire to die, so his decision was premeditated.^[3] One of the reasons of his depression was his old age,^[3] because he believed entering Alzheimer disease despite having entirely organized a successful piano seasons or teach private piano lessons at his home in Providencia.^[3]