Alfred Brendel – författare

'I was not a child prodigy; indeed, I had none of the requisite qualities for making a successful career' - which has not prevented Alfred Brendel from becoming one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. In these dialogues with Martin Meyer he speaks about his life, the development of his career, his music-making, his travels, his poems and essays; about his childhood in Zagreb, adolescence in Graz, and experiences as a young man in Vienna ('I was in Vienna, but I was never a "genuine" Viennese'); about literature, painting, architecture and kitsch. He talks about the liberties and obligations of a performer and discusses the work of musicians that have fascinated him, like Edwin Fischer, Cortot, Kempff, Furtwngler and Bruno Walter, or irritated him, like Glenn Gould. The conversations which are both serious and witty abound in amusing anecdotes and contain penetrating insights into the music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Busoni and Schoenberg. Alfred Brendel emerges as a deep-thinking as well as emotional musician and a passionate sceptic - a Renaissance-like figure with an engaging sense of humour, a healthy dose of modesty and an enormous appetite for life.

The title of this collection of essays refers to a tailor's mannequin that Alfred Brendel spotted in a shop window in Arezzo, a small Tuscan town. Who is this strange lady? What is she looking at? And why is she carrying an egg on her head? The mannequin now graces a room in the attic of Brendel's house in Hampstead. Her features convey great artistic seriousness in combination with absurd comedy: the epitome of his own musical and literary preferences. And so, in his delightful new collection, great masters of nonsense meet great masters of music.

'This book distils what, at my advanced age, I feel able to say about music, musicians, and matters of my pianistic profession.'Ever since Alfred Brendel bid farewell to the concert stage after six decades of performing, he has been passing on his insight and experience in the form of lectures, readings and master-classes. This reader for lovers of the piano distils his musical and linguistic eloquence and vast knowledge, and will prove invaluable to anyone with an interest in the technique, history and repertoire of the piano.Erudite, witty, enlightening and deeply personal, A Pianist's A to Z is the ideal book for all piano lovers, musicians and music aficionados: rarely has the instrument been described in such an entertaining and intelligent fashion.

Alfred Brendel, one of the greatest pianists of our time, is renowned for his masterly interpretations of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt, and has been credited with rescuing from oblivion the piano music of Schubert's last years. Far from having merely one string to his bow, however, Brendel is also one of the world's most remarkable writers on music - possessed of the rare ability to bring the clarity and originality of expression that characterised his performances to the printed page. The definitive collection of his award-winning writings and essays, Music, Sense and Nonsense combines all of his work originally published in his two classic books, Musical Thoughts and Afterthoughts and Music Sounded Out, along with significant new material on a lifetime of recording, performance habits and reflections on life and art. As well as providing stimulating reading, this new edition provides a unique insight into the exceptional mind of one of the outstanding musicians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.Whether discussing Bach or Beethoven, Schubert or Schoenberg, Brendel's reflections are illuminating and challenging, a treasure for the specialist and music lover alike.

Alfred Brendel und Peter Gülke pflegen die Kunst des Interpretierens auf einzigartige Weise: Brendel als weltberühmter Pianist, der auch Bücher über Musik publiziert, Peter Gülke als mehrfach für seine Sprach-Kunst des Interpretierens ausgezeichneter Autor, der auch Dirigent ist. In diesem Buch denken sie in einem intellektuell und emotional berührenden Ideen- und Erfahrungsaustausch gemeinsam über die Praxis des Interpretierens nach. Einerseits geschieht dies ganz konkret bezogen auf Schuberts und Beethovens Musik. Andererseits diskutieren sie über Grundsätzliches wie die Frage, welche Freiheit Musikerinnen und Musiker beim Aufführen von Musik haben, und über die Möglichkeiten, sinnvoll über Musik zu sprechen, das heißt: sie sprachlich zu interpretieren.