Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Alfred Brendel :: Alfred Brendel Plays Beethoven

A classic

xxj | Cleveland Heights, Ohio USA | 02/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unlike your own reviewer, who emphasizes Brendel's blandness of manner in the Diabelli variations, I prize the care for depth and scope of compositional perception that the pianist's "above the self" manner of approaching these astounding variations is able to reveal, which would have been subsumed in an emotional approach to the material of Diabelli's very straight-forwardly constructed waltz. This recording brought made the work available when it was all but unknown by the general, classical music public, and its contemporary critics faulted it as "cerebral" but never as thoughtless or eccentric. The amount of salient, compositional thought that Brendel reveals is breathtaking and affords a window onto the landscape of Beethoven's own interests and attitudes towards both composing and the piano, both of which have been uniquely seminal for piano music in the centuries that followed, down to the present. I remember being breathtaken both by the work and the pianist's accomplishment when the recording first came out, and all the committedly artist pianists I know consider Brendel's accomplishment a kind of benchmark for their own work. Certainly, this recording contributed to Brendel's reputation in its early days, and it remains one that no serious pianist wants to overlook - something in its way unique. I booted up my computer just now in hopes that Amazon would have it available, even after all these "yea many" years, to order it as a gift to a friend who has resumed serious piano lessons as a mature adult, having stopped decades earlier while still a child, and is playing Diabelli duets and listening enthusiastically to later CD's of Brendel playing Mozart. I am delighted to see that Amazon's reviewer's low rating of this truly classic recording and monumental artistic achievement coincides with a dirt-cheap price for a two-CD set offering these variations together with all of Beethoven's bagatelles, so I am checking the "buy now" box now with a will. This reminds me that when the recording came out Brendel was - I believe - the first to record all the piano music of Beethoven. As part of a brilliantly considered, comprehensive overview of Beethoven's output for his most beloved instrument, in which no technical hurdle daunts the pianist at all and musical ideas rule completely, this performance takes the occasion seriously to an unparallelled degree. Thanks to Brendel's seemingly "selfless" commitment to Beethoven's art, the recording enables an auditor to share in that remarkable overview as a full, human equal, whether he is an artistic equal or not. I think Beethoven would have been delighted - had he been able to hear this performance."

ONE OF THE TOP PERFORMERS!

T. Bellows | 10/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Again, for me, Brendel comes across with his usual "swingin" and sure rhythms and his subtle power. He plays through a wonderful comprehension of the LVB works. And he transmits that magically!

Also, with A.B., we get every note played clearly--in "high-definition." Astonishing to hear this even in the fastest passages. For this listener, Brendel's clarity and grace are a pure excitement. (Ever wonder if he was LVB in a past existence? I wouldn't be surprised.)"

Great Bargain

William L. Lewis | YPSILANTI, MI USA | 03/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've owned and enjoyed these performances for many years, so I was really amazed when I read the bad review from the Amazon reviewer. The 1994 Penguin Guide gave the Diabelli Variations a very positive 3-star review, calling it a powerful, commanding performance, and also praised the Bagatelles as beautifully done. The sound is also good , if a bit too closely recorded. This has to be one of the best buys around."