# Pianist Brendel to take final bow



## Isola

> Alfred Brendel, one of the world's greatest pianists, is giving his final public performances this week.
> 
> Brendel, 77, will take his final bow at the famous Golden Auditorium in the Musikverein, in Vienna, Austria, after 60 years on the concert stage.
> 
> He will perform Mozart's ninth piano concerto, K.271 in E-flat major - the Jenamy - with the Vienna Philharmonic later and on Thursday.
> 
> Brendel has described the piece as "one of the greatest wonders of the world".


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/7788610.stm

Oh I haven't even seen his concert once! I have a collection of his fine Mozart concertos and Beethoven sonatas though. Who hasn't got a Brendel's recording? I wonder if he is the most recorded pianist of modern time.


----------



## opus67

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to find the newspaper we subscribe to (from India, mind you, where western classical music doesn't have a market as, say, some countries further east do) had printed the article from The Guardian with photos, to boot.

I haven't seen any greats in concert. I'm afraid I shall have to settle for the disc-player.  Just the day before, I got my copy of Brendel playing Mozart's concerti (Philips Vol. 1), and I listened to my favourite, No. 20, and an early concert rondo.


----------



## Isola

Thanks for the link. Enjoyed the concert review. I like that quote of Busoni about concerto No.9: "as young as a youth" and "as wise as an old man". 

Concerto No. 20 is also my favourite though I prefer Kissin's recording mainly because he played Beethoven's cadenzas in the 1st and last movts (Beethoven liked the piece and played it publically with his own cadenzas) which are absolutely superb. Brendel played his own I think, not very much to my liking.


----------



## opus67

Isola said:


> Concerto No. 20 is also my favourite though I prefer Kissin's recording mainly because he played Beethoven's cadenzas in the 1st and last movts (Beethoven liked the piece and played it publically with his own cadenzas) which are absolutely superb. Brendel played his own I think, not very much to my liking.


Ha! Company at last. (with regard to the cadenzas. ) My own preference is towards Beethoven's. I don't know if it is because I have heard more of that in the early stages of my listening to the work, or if it is because something "inherent" , but I've seen people describe it as "Beethoven's crazy cadenzas." Before the two-fer that I got recently, the only versions I had were a video (Pires/Boulez/Berlin, available at *The Broadcast Corner* thread) and Richter (Wislocki/Warsaw PO, from DG, paired with LvB's 3rd.), both of which feature Beethoven's. I don't really like the sound, and to some extent the playing, in the CD. But I love the video. Check it out, if you have not done so.


----------



## Isola

Will do, thanks. In the meantime, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to recommend Kissin's recording with Moscow Virtuosi/Vladimir Spivakov, excellent -


----------

