Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel dies at age 94 | Culture | EUROtoday

Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, thought of some of the excellent figures of the classical music of the 20th century, died on Tuesday in London at age 94. Brendel was admired internationally for his deep and meticulous interpretations of composers comparable to Beethoven and Schubert.

Born on January 5, 1931 in Wiesenberg, north of Moravia (at this time a part of the Czech Republic), he spent his childhood between Yugoslavia and Austria. After World War II, his household settled in Graz, the place he started his musical coaching on the native Conservatory.

Brendel started his piano research at age six. Of a modest and reserved nature, it was additionally recognized for its acute self -criticism. The worldwide consecration was late, after a live performance in London in 1971 that he described, with irony, as “boring.” That recital, nevertheless, attracted the eye of the Philips label, with which he signed a contract that marked the start of an excellent musical profession.

From then on, he settled in London, a metropolis the place he lived for greater than half a century. There he obtained in 1989 the title of Caballero Commander of the Order of the British Empire, granted by Queen Elizabeth II. In the British capital he supplied quite a few recitals and collaborated with nice orchestra administrators, such because the British Simon Rattle. His repertoire, in depth and deeply labored, was marked by a particular dedication to Beethoven, whom he thought of his biggest reference. Between 1982 and 1983 he carried out a historic tour with 77 recitals in eleven musical capitals of Europe and the United States, by which he carried out the 32 piano sonatas of the German composer. He can also be the writer of books, essays but in addition fiction works.

“We lived a golden age for violinists, not so much for pianists,” he complained within the final interview, in 2016, to this newspaper, when he had been retired for eight years. “To get to the heart of what a pianist is able to do, better to wait until between the forties and sixties,” he defined about piano artwork. The interview was performed when President Donald Trump had been elected for the primary time, though he had not but taken possession. “With Trump, the feeling is that I am in the wrong world, that I no longer belong to him,” he stated then, when he was 85 years previous and had survived World War II and Nazism. The present populism introduced unusual reminiscences and the world continued to appear like an absurd place. “But it is easier to survive in it if we can laugh.”

In addition to Beethoven, Brendel was elementary within the revaluation of the Pianistic repertoire of Franz Schubert, which turned thought of some of the influential performers. In later years, he additionally devoted himself to the Mozart Sonatas. His withdrawal from the stage got here in December 2008, with an emotional live performance in Vienna. When requested what he would miss, he replied with out hesitation: “Adrenaline.” And he added with humor that, “despite all those annoying coughs, mobile phones and headphones sounding,” he would additionally miss the general public.