Opera Chic

Brendel's Piano Lover's Reader

Austrian Pianomania pianist Alfred Brendel publishes extracts from his September-launch book,  A Pianist's A-Z: A Piano Lover's Reader, for The New York Review of Books:

On the piano:

A glance at the scope and wealth of piano literature makes us realize: this instrument works wonders. But the piano must be an instrument, not a fetish. It serves a purpose. Without the music, it’s a piece of furniture with black and white teeth. A violin is, and stays, a violin. The piano is an object of transformation. It permits, if the pianist so desires, the suggestion of the singing voice, the timbres of other instruments, of the orchestra. It might even conjure up the rainbow or the spheres. This propensity for metamorphosis, this alchemy, is our supreme treasure.

Learning From Alfred Brendel (The Hard Way)

How about a nice masterclass with Alfred Brendel?

Paul Lewis tells all about learning from the great man:

Four years after that, he moved to London to study at the Guildhall School in London, and it was there that he had his fateful meeting with Alfred Brendel. “We met at a master class, and then he invited me round to his house. Really, that was such an incredible experience. We spent five hours on Liszt’s Dante sonata, analysing every bar, and at the end of it I couldn’t play a note.”

But then, once Opera Chic found herself seated at la Scala a few seats away from Maestro Brendel and simply being near him in an opera house full of people was intimidating enough.

Brendel's Last Note, With Ringtone: The Farewell Concert at Musikverein

Last month Opera Chic had the privilege to be at la Scala for Alfred Brendel's concert, part of his last tour.

Last night @ the Musikverein in Vienna, Brendel gave his very last performance in front of half the Austrian government (the only question is, what did the other half have to do better than that?); and how cool that 77-year-old maestro chose the "Jeunehomme" for the night's program. It's my party, he seemed to say, I'll play what I like. I'll play what moves me because this is my night. Which is incredibly touching and incredibly cool, OC thinks.

Guardian editor and Brendel fanboi Alan Rusbridger was there to report.

And the very end of the night, a surprise:

The hall rose to thunder out such respect that Brendel returned to play the haunting arrangement by Busoni of Bach's chorale Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland. The orchestra and audience listened in total silence, then demanded more. Brendel shrugged. He waved a coquettish goodbye. He crossed his arms over his heart and bowed. After half a dozen returns, he played – for one last time – Liszt's Au Lac de Wallenstadt. In an irony that would not have escaped him (he has written a poem on the subject), he played to the accompaniment of a ghostly mobile phone ringtone for a few bars.

A torch has been passed to a new generation of musicians -- the ringtone programmers.

(Much more Brendel stuff at Fred Child's Fredlines, with music files and YouTube)

Alfred Brendel: Farewell Tour at Teatro alla Scala Brings the House to its Feet

He wanted to leave the stage at the end of the concert, but the applause and bravi never stopped.

Alfred Brendel brought down the house earlier tonight at Teatro alla Scala in a farewell piano recital that brought the crowds to their feet, and coaxed four bis from the 77-year-old Austrian pianist.

Brendel is winding down his final days of playing on the tour circuit, as he will retire from stage on December 18, 2008 in Vienna's Musikverein with the Wiener & Mackerras. During the next two months, Brendel will travel through several European cities, and Opera Chic counts her blessings that Milan was his only Italy destination.

Earlier tonight, Brendel played (and hummed) a Haydn variation & sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert by memory. A smattering of missed notes, ignored codas, an auto-pilot nonchalance, and his unwavering humming, Brendel's excellent pedal technique and bright&light tones made up for any aberrations.

The ticketholders hurled bravo after bravo @ Brendel, and although the exhaustion showed and Brendel's patience wore a bit thin at a few points, he returned for over a dozen curtain calls.

More tomorrow...

Grand Opening, Grand Closing: Brendel's Farewell Tour, Boston

Brendel is the kind of serious-minded artist who would find it crass or vulgar to trumpet a string of concerts as a "grand farewell tour" but the word is out that he is retiring from performance at the end of this year. And so a sense of moment infused the atmosphere of Symphony Hall on Friday night, when he performed a Celebrity Series recital that was his final Boston appearance.

OC tips her Stephen Jones hat to the wonder that is Alfred Brendel; and as another maestro once pointed out,

Who you gone find doper than him with no pen
Just draw off inspiration
Soon you gonna see you can't replace him
With cheap imitations for these generations