Search - Alfred Brendel in Portrait / Simon Rattle on DVD

Brendel as (pretty) endearing human

James M. Clark | Middletown, CT, USA | 06/05/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am not a big fan of Brensel's playing, which is true, but seems rude to mention. He is a very, very fine and dedicated pianist. Viewing these performances (and his very, very, fine DVD of the Liszt Annéea de Pelerinage) gave me more appreciation for the sharp angles that he prefers in interpretation. The concert DVD here is very well done, beyond any reasonable reproach and includes interpretations that bear repeated listening. I think it is obvious that anyone interested in the classical repertory can learn a great deal by listening, and listening with great concentration, to Brendel But the main reason I am happy to have bought this collection is the documentary about the pianist, in which he provides almost all the story of his life and opinions in well-filmed interviews on location in concert halls, in Germany and Austria, and at his home in England. Unlike, say, Horowits or Rubinstein (who was, I think, much more thoughtful than his public image allowed) or the contemporary star Lang Lang, Brendel is not a media sensation but simply an Eastern European intellectual classical pianist. He is not particularly aware of the media business in the public relations sense, and he has only disdain for the creation of a mythos based on eccentricity or glorification. He emerges as a very intelligent, very dedicated musician who found his natural element in the music of 18th and 19th century German culture, and whose only claim to celebrity is his dedicated, intelligent, subtle work of a lifetime spent in the service of this tradition. As a thoughtful and creative person, he has written essays and poetry (his essays on music are published and very, very much worthwhile reading for classical music fans, only a couple get technical about the music at all, and those are worth unravelling for the dedicated amateur), but Brensel's main means of expression is the piano. Seeing the man behind these interpretations may allow you to understand and admire those interpretations even more. I know that this terrific film had that effect on me."