Live recordings from Austrian Radio broadcasts (ORF) released for the
very first time by one of the greatest musicians of all time.
The Schumann Piano Concerto requires virtually everything a pianist
should have to offer: poetry, virtuosity, poised restraint – Brendel
passes the test on all accounts with his passionate, insightful and
refreshing interpretation.
On this Schumann Piano Concerto performance, taken from Brendel’s
70th Birthday residency in 2001, with the inestimable partners in Sir
Simon Rattle and the Wiener Philharmoniker, Alfred Brendel writes that
“listening to this live recording I felt that, for once, I heard what I
wanted to hear”.
Brahms “Handel” Variations are what many consider to be the most
imposing piece of its kind composed in the four decades that separate it
from Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations.
A work with a wealth of different characters, colour and masterful
disposition. The Fugue in particular is something to marvel at with its
contrapuntal and pianistic power. Even Wagner had to concede that the
result was impressive, “One sees what can still be done with the old
forms when someone comes along who knows how to handle them”.
Brendel has never recorded the Brahms “Handel” Variations in the
studio which makes this his first commercially available recording of
the work. (Presto Classical)
Alfred Brendel?! "one of the greatest musicians of all time"????!!!!
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