Fantastic .... don't miss it ....
Frank von Rhein | 03/28/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The performance of Schubert's B flat Sonata is alone worth the price of the entire CD. If there has been a better recording and more fully realized vision of this piece to date, I don't know of it. The rest of the playing is very good and solid and makes a wonderful cohesive recital. The final Bach-Busoni encore whose lines are brought out by Brendel as if in front of a giant baroque church organ is gorgeously played than fades to black. It's a great way to close the record and lid on one of the all time great classical concert artists of all time, a time-span which encompasses the early LP stereo era through the advent of CD's and DVD's, remarkable. Future generations will have a great sample of high quality recordings of his unique talent at their disposable so they can hear for themselves some of the magic of this man. I hope this record wins a few awards as it should. Brendel has given the musical world many gifts throughout his career and it is fitting that he leaves us with one last one. Everybody should buy this without hesitation, as this type of piano recital, is a dying art, one that doesn't try to impress through bombast and pyrotechnical razzmatazz, but from virtuosic playing, deeply felt and a deeply satisfying experience. Own it for you and your future generations to cherish, so the art is not lost."
Alfred Brendel's legacy - live recordings at the crepuscule
P. Adrian | Arad, Romania | 04/25/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All the pieces offered on this CD-twofer by legendary pianist Alfred Brendel can be found - some of them in two or even three different versions - on his previous studio recordings. However, the clue of this recent release is that it treasures a special moment in Brendel's performing activity: the end-point of his 2008 farewell tour that culminated with his last ever solo recital (in Hannover, on 14 December) and his last ever concerto (in Vienna, on 18 December, accompanied by the renowned local Philharmonic, on that very occasion under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras). How inspired the label `THINKER AT THE PIANO' attached to Brendel! How lively and expressive his light finger-work in his recent years (including, of course, these valedictory concerts)! How serene his manner to deal with the beloved masterpieces of the Viennese Classicism! And how elegant to retire by choice from the international concert platform, aged 77, in full command of his technical skills, at the peak of his artistry!
Regarded as one of the most important artists of the XX and XXI centuries, Alfred Brendel remains for me the most interesting pianist I have ever had the chance to hear in live performances. What are the key features that allowed Brendel to be held in such esteem as the supreme master of the classical repertory? What kind of insight does he employ in order to convey the deepest truths of the scores he interprets? Where does he get his inspiration from?
I dare suggest some answers. The magic of his renditions occurs due to his distinctive intellectual approach that supplies the tools for building sound musical structures and, consequently, to his "sixth sense" which makes him intuitively find the most proper accents for everything he wants to convey on the keyboard. The respectful regard to whatever he performs and a lifelong devotion to the truth of the score ensure such a consistent approach - inspired in style and suitable in pianistic technique - that simply enraptures the listener, even now after sixty years of performing career. Poised and elegant, Brendel's style seems to uphold on two verbs: `to feel' and `to understand'. That is, the interpreter's freedom works up to the borders that define the masterpiece, keeping a permanent touch with it from inside, understanding it, feeling it, but never crossing outside that border towards the territory of self-affirming or bombast interpretations. This was not achieved at once, but by accumulating step by step a huge stage-experience, a vast repertory and - most of all - by searching alone time and again in front of the score its deepest meanings and truths. The piece - in Brendel's hands - is not a mere pretext, but the ESSENCE OF MUSIC itself. Brendel professes the faith to the composer's intentions and tries to highlight them. He aims at entirely assuming the work before performing it, as a researcher looking for the magic formula of a certain new phenomenon. Once achieved, "the formula" - though shared with the whole world - remains for ever his.
That is the sign of artistic maturity so subtly sublimed in his poised artistry allowing him to install - in the core of the demanding Viennese classical repertory (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and especially Schubert) - as the supreme authoritative figure among living pianists. Enjoy this valedictory pronouncement of a great artist! Share with Alfred Brendel the youthful way of playing the "Jeunehomme" Concerto by Mozart or the exquisite melancholy and grace of the last Sonata by Schubert! Highly recommended!
"
Certainly One of the FINEST Releases this Year!
Gregory E. Foster | Portland, ME, USA | 06/09/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been "forever" it seems, under the thrall of this Great, Thinking, pianist...ever since I first discovered him with his first cycle of Beethoven's Sonatas for Philips, all those many years ago now!
I say "Thinking", for that is, indeed, how I have always seemed to regard this absolute master of the keyboard. All his efforts, for me, have the feel that he is "thinking" or has "deeply thought out" and "searched" for the piece's true inner meaning(s). One might call this mannered, or ponderous, perhaps as to his interpretative efforts, but I do not mean this in that way. I refer to his "thinking, considering, doing his homework, consideration of interpretation, etc.", that he has always displayed throughout his long, illustrious career. Nothing this great man has ever done comes across as superficial and every recording brings, surely, something positive to the archives of recorded performances.
With this issue, Decca presents to us, the final concert performances of Alfred Brendel's career for our enjoyment and treasuring for years to come. These, truly, are masterful renditions, with the artist in peak form, allowing this album to be itself a monument to this great pianist's career and abilities.
Over the years, how many hours have I listened to those fingers, playing over the keys, and marveled at the touch, the deft maneuvering over the keyboard, interlaced with the interpretive thought going on simultaneously, and simply "always been blown away" by Brendel's execution, or should I say elocution, for, indeed, this man speaks to us, elegantly, through his fingers! And, now, with this effort presented here, we come to know that there will now be silence in the future, that this will be "his last".
The Mozart K271, of course, as always, is simply "spun off" with Brendel's brilliant execution...the man's long been a master of Mozart, as we know. This last piece is a lovely work to include here with his final recording. The K533 sonata, also, is a testament to this man's great artistry, surely seeming "over too soon". When I read the contents of this album, before purchasing, I thought "why the Beethoven's 13th, why not one of the so many sonatas that I love so much?"....and, yet, here Brendel has once again shown his genious for "knowing what works", "what to play", and this work simply "Just Fits", rightly, into this "concert". The Schubert B-flat Sonata, truly, is the crowning work here, and surely there was never a better interpreter of this masterpiece...ever!
Lastly, we have as an encore piece, the Bach Chorale Prelude (arranged by Busoni) to finish out this truly remarkable finale of a truly remarkable artist's career.
I shall be greatly surprised if this recording does not show up later this year for any and all International Awards, and frankly shall be disappointed, if it does not, and further, if it should not win it's category.
In closing this review I wish to state "I salute you, Alfred Brendel, and thank you deeply for all the enjoyment you have brought to me over all these years! Do enjoy your retirement, Dear Man, you are loved by many, including myself."
~operabruin
"
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1