The Lady from Arezzo
The great pianist Alfred Brendel on the mysteries of music
Who is this strange lady? And why is she carrying an egg on her head? What is she looking at? Alfred Brendel discovered this ...
Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel, born in 1931 in Wiesenberg?(now Czech Republic), is an acclaimed pianist worldwide, and considered to be one of the most important performers of 20th-century classical and romantic music. As a writer, he has made a name for himself as an essayist and poet. He has received an honorary doctorate from the universities of London, Oxford and Yale, among others, and lives in London. Most recent publications by Hanser: A bis Z eines Pianisten. Ein Lesebuch für Klavierliebende (2012) and Wunderglaube und Mißtonleiter. Aufsätze und Vorträge (2014).
Hymns of Harmony and Discord
As well as being a first class pianist, Alfred Brendel has always known how to express himself in shining prose.
So it should come as no surprise that his discerning analysis of Beethoven, ...
A Pianist’s A – Z
Ever since Alfred Brendel bid farewell to the concert stage he has been passing on his knowledge and experience in the form of lectures, readings and master-classes. And because he combines ...
moreAfter the Final Chord
"More than any other art form, great music can be a wonderful comfort, even at times when it may seem we are beyond consolation." (Peter Hamm)
To mark his farewell to the concert stage ...
Mirror Images and Haunted Houses
The pianist as poet: Alfred Brendel's verse, both funny and grotesque, delightfully spans sense and nonsense.
The Coughers of Cologne have achieved immortality through Alfred Brendel's ...
Why Me?
"No, I was not a child prodigy. In fact I was never anything that you are supposed to be to have a successful career." These limitations, however, did not prevent Alfred Brendel becoming a ...
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Disturbing Laughter at the Word of Consent
Alfred Brendel is "one of the most quick-witted musicians of our time" (to quote the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). But what does he do when not sitting at the piano? He writes. Fingerzeig was ...
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