1. Forum
  2. Usenet
  3. R.M.CLASSICAL.RECORDINGS

  • Re: Alfred Brendel passed away today

    From Todd M. McComb@21:1/5 to justan@example.invalid on Fri Jun 20 19:43:24 2025
    In article <1034cod$78fm$1@dont-email.me>,
    Tatonik <justan@example.invalid> wrote:
    He and his sets have been, in a sense, the foundation of my piano
    listening life, in part because he was widely recorded and distributed,
    but also because he has staying power.

    I also listened to Brendel a great deal in the prior century, and
    for the reasons you say. On the latter, I do enjoy the current
    situation with respect to the core repertory, i.e. constant access
    to new interpretations of various sorts, but many of the... let's
    say "wilder..." interpretations also tend to max out my interest
    after a few hearings. So I'm not sure I'd particularly seek
    Brendel-esque (let's go with "understated...") renditions in the
    current situation, but they certainly played their role for me at
    the time.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Tatonik@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jun 20 14:28:11 2025
    For many years his early Vox set of Beethoven piano sonatas was my
    reference. I became acquainted with the well-worn LPs at my college
    library and bought the reissues on CD when they were affordable. I
    still enjoy that set and find it more spontaneous than his later
    traversals. Around 1990 I was going to hear his Beethoven live in the
    Murray Theater at Ravinia, but he cancelled due to tendinitis and it was
    not to be.

    Several years ago I turned on the radio and heard a Mozart piano sonata
    played in a way that sounded like a good antidote to the occasional preciousness of the set I own by Uchida. Before the piece had ended I
    decided to acquire whoever it was. It turned out to be Brendel, though
    it wasn't a complete set. There were repeats of some of the sonatas in
    a mix of live and studio performances. I like many of the performances, although I am still chasing an ideal.

    I still tend to go to his Schubert piano sonatas from the 1980s first
    and in a few instances they are still my favorites.

    He and his sets have been, in a sense, the foundation of my piano
    listening life, in part because he was widely recorded and distributed,
    but also because he has staying power.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Tatonik@21:1/5 to Tatonik on Fri Jun 20 15:15:31 2025
    On 6/20/25 2:28 PM, Tatonik wrote:

    Several years ago I turned on the radio and heard a Mozart piano sonata played in a way that sounded like a good antidote to the occasional preciousness of the set I own by Uchida.  Before the piece had ended I decided to acquire whoever it was.  It turned out to be Brendel, though
    it wasn't a complete set.  There were repeats of some of the sonatas in
    a mix of live and studio performances.  I like many of the performances, although I am still chasing an ideal.

    For some reason I have been discovering most of my Mozart on the radio.
    One day last year I turned the ignition on the car and out came a Mozart
    piano concerto that was perfectly judged yet also fresh. For the first
    time in a long time I thought, "I want this!" The announcer said it was
    Orli Shaham with the St. Louis Symphony.

    Some months later, I did the same in the middle of a Mozart piano
    sonata. It sounded just right. Again it was Orli Shaham.

    She was previously unknown to me, which doesn't mean much because I tend
    not to keep up. Her brother is violinist Gil Shaham, whom I have heard
    in passing. Though I haven't gotten around to it yet, I plan to
    greedily gather up her Mozart until I find reason to do otherwise.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Tatonik@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jun 20 15:39:44 2025
    It was in an interview or a documentary, possibly "Pianomania," that
    Brendel declared that the pianist he most admired was Alfred Cortot.
    This surprised me because in most respects they seem like polar opposites.

    I think I still have a copy of "Pianomania" somewhere. Maybe I'll watch
    it tonight.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Tatonik@21:1/5 to Tatonik on Sat Jun 21 01:10:38 2025
    On 6/20/25 3:39 PM, Tatonik wrote:

    I think I still have a copy of "Pianomania" somewhere.  Maybe I'll watch
    it tonight.

    Well, I watched it, and Brendel didn't have much screen time as I had
    thought. Apart from the piano tuner, Stefan Knüpfer, the focus is on Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

    A piano tuner at Knüpfer's level is part master technician and part
    mystic. He tells us:

    "There are pianists who pay great attention to the consistency of the instrument. And I always have the impression after the concert on the
    next day that the instrument is even more consistent than before the
    concert. There's a power put into it which leaves an imprint on the
    sounding board. Not a visual imprint that one can feel but a tonal
    imprint that one can hear."

    At one point, Aimard is leaving his Bach recording session and hears a
    Strauss waltz behind a closed door.

    "Ah!" he says. "We are in Vienna! Very Viennese."

    Then there is a rather excessive rhythmic liberty in the performance,
    and he remarks:

    "Too Viennese."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Tatonik@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 24 12:18:20 2025
    Jed Distler's 10 favorite Brendel recordings, from an episode of his
    podcast "The Piano Maven":

    1. Schubert: Sonata D.958 (Vanguard 1966)

    2. Mozart: Concertos K.466 & K.491, SCO & Mackerras (Philips 1999)

    3. Schoenberg: Piano Concerto, BRSO & Kubelik (DG 1972)

    4. Liszt: Totentanz, LPO & Haitink (Philips 1972)

    5. Beethoven: Diabelli Variations (Philips 1988)

    6. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Vox 1955)

    7. Mozart: Sonata K.533/494 (tie between Philips 2003 & Philips 2008)

    8. Weber: Sonata No. 2 Op. 39 (Philips 1991)

    9. Schumann: Piano Concerto, Philharmonia O. & Sanderling (Philips 1998)

    10a. Brahms: Theme with Variations (Sextet Op. 18) (Philips 1989)

    10b. Liszt: Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Philips 1989)

    Full episode here:

    https://rss.com/podcasts/pianomaven/2079849/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)