Brendel dead at 94

[Herman]

In my mind it has always been an excellent litmus test.

If people said Alfred Brendel was dry and academic, they just had no sense of music.

Brendel was a great and very exciting performer.

I love his Haydn (no one used to play Haydn), Schubert and Beethoven.

Rest in Peace.

[JBS]

Alas!
I have so much by him.
I think the standout might be the Schubert recordings issued under the rubric of Artist's Choice.
But there are so many other possibilities.

[Cato]

Alfred Brendel in a classic performance of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto

[San Antone]

Very sad news, but he lived a long full life and left behind hundreds of hours of great music making.

He was the first pianist who introduced me to the great piano literature from the Classical and Romantic periods.  For my classical listening I could have been satisfied with just his recordings.

[DavidW]

Brendel's Haydn is the gold standard. Rest in peace.

[Cato]

Alfred Brendel in a classic performance of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto

I forgot to apologize for the strange purple picture of Bruno Maderna puffing his life away into an early grave (age 53).

Why the person offering this on YouTube used it I have no idea!

Much nicer is this:




Concerning Alfred Brendel and Schoenberg, we also have his marvelous essay: On Playing Schoenberg's Piano Concerto


https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/02/16/on-playing-schoenbergs-piano-concerto/

[Scion7]

A great friend on the stereo in the Sixties and Seventies.  R.I.P.

[Holden]

I heard Brendel live playing the Hammerklavier. During the slow movement you could have heard a pin drop and the tension was palpable. This was in the 70s and is remembered by me as one of the greatest recitals I've ever heard.

[Spotted Horses]

A towering talent. Expressive, but always in service to the music.

[ultralinear]

I never saw him play, but I did once sit behind him at a small pre-concert recital where Zoltan Kocsis was playing Beethoven op.27/1&2, prior to conducting Bartok and Kurtag. (Uchida was also there, a few seats along the same row.)

RIP.

[André]

His Mozart concertos discs (with Marriner) were my favourites.

I heard him play for a TV program at Radio-Canada. The broadcast studio was packed. The main work was Brahms' Handel variations, a bold choice for that kind of thing. Brendel was an educator as well as a musician.

[Florestan]

Sad news. May God rest him in peace.

[Iota]

His Mozart concertos discs (with Marriner) were my favourites.

I heard him play for a TV program at Radio-Canada. The broadcast studio was packed. The main work was Brahms' Handel variations, a bold choice for that kind of thing. Brendel was an educator as well as a musician.

The first time I ever heard Mozart's D minor concerto, k.466 was Brendel's recording with Marriner and it sparked a lifelong love of the work. Still now, whenever I think of the piece, it's that performance that starts up in my head.

[Irons]

The planets were aligned when Brendel signed for Philips. During the LP era Philips could be a tad underwhelming for orchestral recordings but very good chamber and the absolute best for solo piano.
We are fortunate that such a wide range of repertoire is available by a very special pianist in tip-top sound. 

[lordlance]

I will say as someone from the East, I find it rather matter of fact and possibly a bit cold, how newspaper just write <Person> dead at <x>.

[Herman]

I will say as someone from the East, I find it rather matter of fact and possibly a bit cold, how newspaper just write <Person> dead at <x>.

I don't know to which newspaper you're referring, I'm not sure I've ever seen this kind of warmth and genuine affection in the obits since Rubinstein died. The obit in the London Times is a good example.

[Irons]

Not avid reader of newspapers these days so may have missed it. Without GMG I would have been unaware of the passing of Alfred Brendel which for a artist of his stature and longevity is shocking.

[LKB]

Back in the '90's, Brendel came to the Bay Area to perform all the Beethoven sonatas in San Francisco.

He gave an additional concert in Davies Symphony Hall, which included the Tempest, Pastoral and one other which I'm currently unable to recall.

He was the only world-class pianist I've been privileged to witness, and one of the musicians I've held in greatest esteem over the decades.

RIP, and Heaven is the better off for his passing.

[Daverz]

Jed Distler on Brendel's top 10 recordings:

Schubert: Sonata D958 on Vanguard
Mozart: Piano Concertos K455 & K491 with Mackerras
Schoenberg: Piano Concerto with Kubelik
Liszt: Totentantz with Haitink/LPO
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, the 1988 studio recording for Philips
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition on Vox
Mozart: Sonata in F, K533/494 (Philips 2003) and/or the 2008 recording from the farewell concerts
Weber: Piano Sonata No. 2
Schumann: Piano Concerto with Sanderling
Brahms: Theme and Variations for Piano from String Sextet No.1 Op.18

Bonus:
Liszt: Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (second recording from 1989, not included in the complete Philips box)