As alfred brendel brought to a close his public performing career in 2008, brilliant classics compiled a 35cd set devoted to the pianists complete solo and concerted discs for the vox, turnabout, and vanguard labels, recorded prior to the long affiliation with philips that helped cement his international career. Sonatas moments musicaux impromptus wanderer fantasia music. Brendel brings requisite lightness and grace to the german dances and devises his own, effective ordering. Brendel was one of the most important schubert interpreters of the last half of the twentieth century, and while this set is still in print, it shows us brendel at his best in an affordable, comprehensive and space saving package. A reissue of alfred brendels digital recordings of schuberts major piano works recorded 198788. Order from your preferred classical music cd store arkivmusic. Musical thoughts and afterthoughts by alfred brendel. Brendel gives schubert a lean and concentrated forcefulness, even at times a quirkiness that is perfectly suited to the music. True to the original spirit of montaignes essays from the french, essayer, or to try brendel regards his literary efforts in much the same light as his musical journeys. Everthing that schubert wrote, whether explicitly so or not is a song and these 8 impromptus are among the best.
Wilhelm kempff ii along with kempffs equally famous decca liszt recordings thanks to choices made by alfred brendel great pianists 56, but this is the first appearance on cd of the great bb sonata d960, recorded in 1950. The complete vox, turnabout and vanguard solo recordings alfred brendel retires this year from public performance. Printing instructions when printing from adobe acrobat reader. Musical thoughts and afterthoughts by alfred brendel alibris. Other than the schumann symphonies, it was the only symphony cycle. This reader for lovers of the piano distils his musical and linguistic eloquence and. A new antibiography of composer franz schubert undoes 150. Started in the eighties as the new philips sublabel for classical music.
Alfred brendel is a pianist and the author of several books of essays and poetry, most recently music, sense and nonsense. A few small differences in timing confirm that it really is a new recording in fact the third of brendels new schubert cycle for philips, the others being the sonatas in d major, d850 and a minor d784 on 422 0632ph, 1188, and the sonata in c minor, d958 on d 422 0762ph, 489 made in west germany in september 1987. He had formal music lessons until he was about sixteen, culminating in his first public recital at seventeen, on which he performed a composition of his own, a sonata with, he frequently boasts, a double fugue arguably the most technically challenging. Brendels technical ability and mastery of pianism is on rich display. This reader for lovers of the piano distils his musical and linguistic eloquence and vast knowledge, and will prove invaluable to anyone with an. Published by faber and faber 20021998, london, 2002. Recorded in vienna for vox in 1967, these performances of both groups of impromptus, the four great d. Alfred brendel is a pianist and the author of several books of essays and poetry, most. Brendel is on top form throughout this sonata, revelling both in its lyricism and the directness of its uncomplicated musical message, hitting us with schuberts searching melodies and harmonic brilliance where the music demands, singing, dancing having the occasional joke its as if schubert himself is standing at brendels shoulder. He was the first pianist ever to record the complete solo piano works of beethoven. Schubert never let a song come from his lips that did not first come from his heart. Given alfred brendel s credentials as a schubert interpreter, it is almost surprising that he waited as late as 1977 to commit his first trout quintet to disc, with members of the cleveland quartet and double bassist james van demark. Towards the end of this collection of alfred brendels essays, an interviewer asks. Whether discussing bach, mozart, beethoven, schubert, liszt, schoenberg.
Oct 27, 2016 alfred brendel is a pianist and the author of several books of essays and poetry, most recently music, sense and nonsense. But a critically acclaimed new biography by a university at buffalo schubert scholar presents a far more balanced and empathetic portrait of the man and his career. Brendel his greatest acclaim in the last two seasons is now being harnessed. The life and character of composer franz schubert have been variously sketched in treacle and brimstone by biographers.
Since the 1950s, brendel has been one of the most prolific recording artists in the world. The definitive collection of alfred brendels writings combines his two classic books, musical thoughts and afterthoughts and music sounded out and also includes new, previously unpublished essays. Brendel performs 3 works for piano in carnegie series the. Eroicavariationen to enjoy in your home or car, or gift it to another music lover. If your not used to them, they will grow on you but i dont think getting used to them will be a problem. Born and bred in the city, karl munchinger founded the stuttgart chamber orchestra in the summer of 1945 and it was with this ensemble that he made recordings of bach and other baroque and early classical repertoire for decca that would be staples of the catalogue for decades to come. Brendel chose kempffs 1953 decca recording of schubert s a minor sonata, d. Ever since alfred brendel bid farewell to the concert stage after six decades of performing, he has been passing on his insight and experience in the form of lectures, readings and masterclasses. Alfred brendel has 26 books on goodreads with 1094 ratings. He has also recorded works by mozart, liszt, brahms, schumann and schubert brendel recorded extensively for the vox label, providing them his first of three sets of the complete beethoven.
Brendel performs 3 works for piano in carnegie series. I was looking for richter schubert cds to supplement my lps. Where brendel deals with his own repertoire he is sometimes profound, sometimes skittish. The definitive collection of alfred brendel s writings combines his two classic books, musical thoughts and afterthoughts and music sounded out and also includes new, previously unpublished essays. The b flat sonata was recorded three years earlier and has never previously been published on cd. Schubert composed his last three piano sonatas in the summer of 1828, a year that also saw the composition of the fantasia in fminor for four hands, the string quintet in c, the mass in eflat, and in his final days a sketch of a symphony in d. Shipping select orders, closed to the public through may 15. Schubert s a minor sonata d845 from 1953 was previously issued in philips great pianists of the century vol. Buy musical thoughts and afterthoughts by alfred brendel online at alibris.
Not all performing artists are eloquent about their art. A pianists az ebook by alfred brendel rakuten kobo. He will give his last recital in december at viennas musikverein, in the city where he came to prominence over half a century ago. Alfred brendel made his first recording at the age of 21 and has since recorded a wide range of piano repertoire.
A new antibiography of composer franz schubert undoes. While his pictures at the exhibition was breathtaking and his beethoven sonatas were aweinspiring, it was his schubert that let listeners know brendel had a heart. Complete philips recordings by bach, johann sebastian, haydn, franz joseph on cd. Both are examples of schubert playing of the highest order. Much of the scrupulously wrought character that is alfred brendel rests on his often discussed by himself especially autodidacticism. Bargain hunters already will have snapped up the philips duo set of brendels recordings of the final triptych of schubert piano sonatasd. Alfred brendel at his home in hampstead, north london, september 2010. Schuberts impromptus opus 90 and opus 142 rate with the finest, most tuneful of his composition. Impatience was not a vice the great pianist at 85, looking back on playing, writing, living, loving and wondering how he managed to fit so much in. Brendels renown contrasts with the late bruce hungerfords presentday, undeserved obscurity. Pianist alfred brendel leads a musical campaign for schubert.
See our exclusive arkivmusic reissues of alfred brendel recordings. He recorded extensively, often returning to key works a number of times. A few small differences in timing confirm that it really is a new recording in fact the third of brendel s new schubert cycle for philips, the others being the sonatas in d major, d850 and a minor d784 on 422 0632ph, 1188, and the sonata in c minor, d958 on d 422 0762ph, 489 made in west germany in september 1987. The pianist alfred brendel kbe born 5 january 1931 was a recording artist for more than half a century, from his first record of prokofievs piano concerto no.
At the age of thirtyfive he already had a reputation as a leading interpreter of the germanaustrian classical repertoire and many voices were raised in favour of his claims to be taken up by a major company, so that he could be heard in firstclass sound and with concerto and chamber partners on the highest level. It is not a reference book, but helpful in getting to know how he thinks. Is schubert, among great composers, the most immediately moving. Hungerfords nearcomplete beethoven cycle for vanguard is a model of intelligent, insightful, and tasteful virtuosity. The heart of the book lies in the 1820s, among beethovens and schuberts late. Schuberts a minor sonata d845 from 1953 was previously issued in philips great pianists of the century vol. The eloquence and subtle artistry that have brought mr. Brendel has recently retired and one of his last releases was an 8disc set of recordings with 4 discs devoted to schubert. Other famous composers lived at the same time as schubert. Philips classics is now an inname only imprint of decca records with much of the past classical catalog having been reissued on the eloquence label in recent years while the us and uk pop catalogs are managed by mercury and the french pop catalog including the serge gainsbourg catalog and most of johnny hallydays. In the end i much prefer the way he plays schubert to the way he write about him. Oct 16, 2010 alfred brendel at his home in hampstead, north london, september 2010.
Schubert composed many kinds of music, but his songs are loved by everybody and sung all over the world. Even at the peak of his early supervirtuoso period, austrian pianist alfred brendel had a soft spot for schubert. Alfred brendels most popular book is a pianists az. In honor of brendel s 65th birthday in 1996, his label issued a 25cd deluxe limited edition, the art of alfred brendel, which provided a comprehensive look at his career and included selections from the works of beethoven, brahms, haydn, liszt, mozart, schubert, and schumann. A reissue of alfred brendel s digital recordings of schubert s major piano works recorded 198788. Schuberts health was failing from a long battle with syphilis. Jan 22, 1973 brendel performs 3 works for piano in carnegie series. The live recording of d784 predates brendels 1987 studio version, but direct. By the crosseyed pianist january 17, 2017 a personal journey through schuberts penultimate piano sonata read previous posts here with a good deal of reading, of both the score and books and articles on this sonata and schuberts piano music in general, and listening, and thinking, by late november 2014, it was time to embark on some. Alfred brendel one of the great interpreters of the core austrogerman repertoire, with mozart, beethoven, schubert, schumann and liszt at its centre, brendels career ran from 1948 to 2008 when he retired from concertgiving. His account of schuberts mystical late sonata in b flat was particularly transfixing. An exclusive artist for the philips label since 1969, brendels discography is now among the most extensive of any pianist, reflecting a repertoire of solo, chamber and orchestral works by the major composers from the central european tradition from bach through to schoenberg. Schubert s health was failing from a long battle with syphilis.
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