Alfred Brendel: Says Goodybe in Style
Tobias
The sad news is that Pianist Alfred Brendel, revered as a pronounced and personal voice of 20th century classical performance, has announced that he will be retiring from the stage this year. The good news, however, is that he will be doing so in style: First of all, there will be one last tour and a final chance to watch this outspoken and lucid-minded artist live. And secondly, Alfred Brendel will soften the impact of his departure with the release of an 8CD Box set containing some of the finest moments of his long career – selected by the man himself. As part of the „Artist's Choice“ series on Philips, the Austrian performer has been able to draw from an extensive catalogue of albums spanning decades of recording: „This new series by Philips is trying to sum up my career, albeit fragmentary“, Brendel stated, „Luckily for me, I recorded so much, which increases the chance of finding a cut in which you'll be able to recognise yourself as an artist.“ Brendel also emphasised the importance of a wide choice with regards to finding the ideal version of a particular piece. „On my CD featuring the d-minor Concerto by Brahms, for example, which I recorded with the Berlin Philharmonics and Claudio Abbado, the piano sounds as though it was placed amidst the orchestra – not in front of it. Fortunately, however, there's a perfectly balanced concert production realised with the Orchestra of the Bavarian Broadcasting Service under Sir Collin Davis – which is due to follow in a series of my favourite live recordings.“
Philips offered Alfred Brendel the opportunity of presenting his work through his own eyes on the occasion of his 75th birthday back in 2006. A total of four double-CDs in a box have now been released, as well as a complimentary DVD. While his interpretations of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven are enough to warrant this a safe buy for any fan of the classical piano repertoire, two discs filled to the brim with Schubert are topping off this collection – Brendel, after all, is regarded as one of the seminal Schubert-performers of the past decades. A full five sonatas can be found here, two of which are furthermore featured on the DVD, allowing for a lively hint at what an Alfred Brendel concert may have looked like.
Picture by Isolde Ohlbaum
Homepage: Alfred Brendel
Homepage: Universal Classics