Gheorghiu was born in Galaţi, Romania in 1928. He was first a pupil of Constanța Erbiceanu at the Bucharest Academy of Music and then of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris, France. He is one of the leading Romanian pianists of the twentieth century.

He was member of the Romanian Trio, together with Ştefan Gheorghiu and Radu Aldulescu. At the first edition of the George Enescu International Competition in 1958, he won the first prize for the best performance of the third sonata by Enescu, together with his brother the violinist Ştefan Gheorghiu.

Gheorghiu's wide repertoire includes many Romantic composers such as Schumann, Grieg, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Chopin, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, in addition to music by Beethoven, as well as modern compositions by Romanian composers, George Enescu, Paul Constantinescu and himself.