#Alfred Brendel

[thedaysofdisorder]

Schubert Impromptu Op 90 No 3 D 899 G flat major - Alfred Brendel

[desertosullaterra]

everyone seems to hate Brendel and I will never fully understand why.

[headlessandhellbent]

p!atd is officially over... I might be 28 and not thriving at all but this saddens me. I remember afycso coming OUT and blowing up... everyone putting their name!at the disco... Bruh. I'm old. It's like my childhood is officially over.

[paul-archibald]

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Joseph Haydn served for thirty years as Kapellmeister to Prince Nikolaus von Esterhazy, one of the most distinguished patrons of music ever.  When the prince died in 1790, Haydn was offered a generous pension and might reasonably have been expected to retire after an honorable career. Instead, the 58-year-old composer was reinvigorated by making two lengthy visits to London in the years 1791-2…

[unjustlyunread]

Mendelssohn's Variations sérieuses, op. 54 played by Brendel

("The work was written as part of a campaign to raise funds for the erection of a large bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven in his home town of Bonn.")

[ronnydeschepper]

Haruki Murakami wordt 75...

De naar ik vermoed populairste schrijver van het moment wereldwijd, de Japanner Haruki Murakami, viert vandaag zijn ste verjaardag. Continue reading Untitled

[kitaston]

Alfred Brendel

Austrian classical pianist

[twafordizzy]

Als er muziek in het schrijven zit

In Mozart voor schrijvers gaat Oek de Jong (1952) op zoek naar het muzikale aspect van de roman. Wat blijkt? Muziek speelt een rol bij het totstandkomen van de verhalen die De Jong schrijft. De Jong citeert Milan Kundera: Het componeren van een roman bestaat uit het naast elkaar plaatsen van verschillende emotionele ruimtes. De Jong zelf vult aan: Het naast elkaar plaatsen van emotionele ruimtes…

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Playing

Arnold Schoenberg CHAMBER SYMPHONY NO. 1, OP. 9 CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA, OP. 42 CHAMBER SYMPHONY NO. 2, OP. 28

Michael Gielen SWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden

Alfred Brendel, Piano

[aschenblumen]

Arnold Schoenberg, Piano concerto op. 42. Rafael Kubelik, director Alfred Brendel, piano

[princesssarisa]

Yesterday I shared links to complete filmed performances available free on YouTube of the top 10 most frequently performed operas. While I'm at it, here are links to performances of the next top 10 most popular operas, all with English subtitles.

Cosí Fan Tutte

Théâtre du Châtelet, 1992 (Amanda Roocroft, Rosa Mannion, Rainer Trost, Rodney Gilfry, Eiran James, Claudio Nicolai; staged and conducted by John Eliot Gardiner)

L'Elisir d'Amore

Vienna State Opera, 2005 (Rolando Villazón, Anna Netrebko, Leo Nucci, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo; staged by Otto Schenk; conducted by Alfred Eschwé)

Aida

San Francisco Opera, 2010 (Micaela Carosi, Marcello Giordani, Dolora Zajick, Marco Vratogna, Hao Jiang Tian; staged by Jo Davies; conducted by Nicola Lusotti)

Hänsel & Gretel

Studio film, 1981 (Brigitte Fassbaender, Edita Gruberova, Sena Jurinac, Hermann Prey; directed by August Everding; conducted by Georg Solti)

Turandot

Opera Hong Kong, 2018 (Oksana Dyka, Alfred Kim, Valeria Sepe; staged by Warren Mok; conducted by Paolo Olmi)

Die Fledermaus

Bavarian State Opera, 1987 (Eberhard Wächter, Pamela Coburn, Wolfgang Brendel, Janet Perry, Brigitte Fassbaender; staged by Otto Schenk; conducted by Carlos Kleiber)

Nabucco

St. Margarethen Opera Festival, 2007 (Igor Morosow, Gabriella Morigi, Elizabeth Kulman, Bruno Riberio, Simon Yang; staged by Robert Herzl; conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer)

Eugene Onegin

Kirov Opera, 1984 (Sergei Leiferkus, Tatiana Novikova, Yuri Marusin, Larissa Diadkova; staged and conducted by Yuri Temirkanov)

Lucia di Lammermoor

Studio film, 1971 (Anna Moffo, Lajos Kozma, Giulio Fioravanti, Paolo Washington; directed by Mario Lanfranchi; conducted by Carlo Felice Cillario)

Paglacci

Lirica Italiana at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, 1961; Mario del Monaco, Gabriella Tucci, Aldo Protti, Attilio D'Orazzi; conducted by Giuseppe Morelli)

[gnossienne]

A glance at the scope and wealth of piano literature makes us realise: this instrument works wonders. But the piano must be an instrument, not a fetish. It serves a purpose. Without the music, it’s a piece of furniture with black and white teeth. A violin is, and stays, a violin. The piano is an object of transformation. It permits, if the pianist so desires, the suggestion of the singing voice, the timbres of other instruments, of the orchestra. It might even conjure up the rainbow or the spheres. This propensity for metamorphosis, this alchemy, is our supreme privilege.

An A-Z of the piano: Alfred Brendel's notes from the concert hall

[ar-mah]

،

بكيتُ فَواتَ ما لم يَحنْ قَطّ.

وانتبهتُ أن لا بكاءَ،

وأني لم أكنْ يومًا البتّة.

[backtothepiano]

A Moment with Schubert

04/01/2023

Schubert seems to condense everything music offers in just a few measures. Elegance is the word that springs to mind.

Somewhere in history—specifically in the history of music—amongst giants like Beethoven and Mozart, there dwells a composer named Franz Schubert.

Often cited in the encyclopedia as belonging to the late classical period, I tend to think that Schubert has one foot in the classical and the other in the romantic, still at times he seems to have both feet firmly grounded on romanticism. Only by immersing oneself in his music can one utterly understand.

Schubert is a fascinating character: anonymous to the public of his time, he was loved by a select group of friends who provided him with support.

A prolific composer, Schubert wrote tirelessly, but fell short in other areas of his life. Unsurprisingly, his financial situation was catastrophic, a common pattern among many great artists throughout history.

To help the poor genius, music-loving friends supported him and provided him with housing; Schubert repaid them with nightly soirées, affectionately dubbed “Schubertiades,” masterfully portrayed in Julius Schimidt’s painting.

-

I remember the late Gilberto Tinetti in his excellent program “Pianíssimo” on Brazilian Rádio Cultura. Tinetti described Schubert’s daily cycle was as follows: at night, he played songs and improvised with new ideas; the next morning, he wrote down the themes from the night before; in the afternoon, he strolled in parks and read outdoors.

For Schubert, composing was so commonplace and natural that, careless with the works scribbled on lined paper, now and then he lost them in his wanderings between parks and taverns in Vienna.

My passion for Schubert was ignited when I first heard anthological recordings by Alfred Brendel, Maria João Pires, and Vladimir Sokolov on Radio Cultura. They brought to life Schubert’s Moments Musicaux, Impromptus, and the sonatas heavily influenced by Beethoven—a composer that Schubert admired most—but infused with their own character and color.

During my study cycle between 2006 and 2009, I practiced one of the Impromptus. Now, it was about time to explore the Moments Musicaux, which I admire for its rare combination of clarity, simplicity, and lyricism. The Moment in C Major is a particularly perfect example. Its simple opening begins with an airy melodic line that later reappears in a graceful counterpoint section and culminates in a resounding succession of soaring chords. Schubert seems to condense everything music offers in just a few measures. In trying to describe his style, elegance is the word that springs to mind.

During my studies, I aimed for a classical technique in my fingers and a romantic interpretation in my heart. Inspired by Brendel and Jõao Pires, I embarked on my humble rendition, working to refine my dynamic control to meet the demands of the musical material. The Yamaha U1J provided invaluable support with its greater range and fuller sound compared to my old Schneider.

Recording this piece was an enchanting experience, and I look forward to further exploring Schubert’s repertoire.

--

Recorded in Curitiba, in March 2023, on the Yamaha U1J piano with a Shure MV88 microphone.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Tuesday, 12-17-24, 7pm Pacific

'Evenin', everyone...Mr. Baggins here, back with music to soothe your achin' nerves and help ease us all into a good night. Let's start the evening off with another piano concerto from Haydn. We hear the Piano Concerto No. 3 in F Major, Hob.XVIII:3, performed by Massimo Palumbo with the Austrian Chamber Symphony, Ernst Theis conducting.

Let's stay with Haydn a moment and hear Horowitz' recording of Haydn's Piano Sonata Hob. XVI: 52 (L. 62) in E flat major, a recording he made for EMI in 1932.

Turning now to some of the chamber music of Sir Malcolm Arnold, we hear his Piano Trio, Op. 54, performed by The Nash Ensemble. It's this group that I credit with my appreciation for the music of Malcolm Arnold. The second movement of this piece is a hauntingly beautiful andante.

We go from 20th Century Engish music to Mozart played by Englishmen: we hear Mozart's Symphony No. 15, K 124, played by our old friends, Neville and The Gang.

And staying with the same crew, we add pianist Alfred Brendel and go from Symphony No. 15 to Piano Concerto No. 15 of Mozart.

Now as an encore, here he is playing the Allegro from Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 15.

Next we have the atmospheric Cello Concerto of Frederick Delius, played for us by Jaqueline du Pré, with Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting the Royal Philharmonic, a recording from 1965 at the Abbey Road Studios (video description is incorrect here).

We'll hear her recording of the Elgar concerto another evening. Let's move now to music of Vivaldi, his Concerto in D Minor for 2 Oboes, Strings & Continuo, RV 535, Celia Nicklin and Neil Black are our oboists, with Iona Brown leading The ASMF.

Here's one of the more popular of Alan Hovhaness' many compositions, his "And God Created Great Whales for Orchestra and Whale Recording Op. 229, No. 1". We hear The Seattle Symphony and un-named whale soloists, led by Gerard Schwarz.

And that otherworldly bit of musical poetry brings our program to a close for this evening. I do hope you've enjoyed the selections and possibly heard something new to your ear. This is Mr. Baggins, signing off for now, but I'll return at 8am with our Morning Coffee Music.

Until then, dream sweet dreams, babies, dream sweet dreams.

Baggins out.