Alfred Brendel

These sonatas are magnificent creations, wonderfully well played by Alfred Brendel. Within the order and scale of these works Haydn explores a rich diversity of musical languages, a wit and broadness…

Mozart is on inspired form in these wonderful works, and so is Alfred Brendel.

Liszt’s sonata is regarded by many as his ultimate masterpiece and it ranks alongside other “greats” in the pantheon of piano repertoire. This was not always the case, however, and in the 19th century it was met with extreme reactions, from admiration to suspicion and envy. The critic Eduard Hanslick declared “Anyone who has heard this and finds it beautiful is beyond help”, while Wagner heaped praised upon it (perhaps unsurprisingly). Alfred Brendel has called it “the most original, powerful and intelligent sonata composed after Beethoven and Schubert”.

Like Gilels, Brendel treats the Op. 35 Variations as far more than a poor relation of the Eroica Symphony finale. His approach has less of the urgent, seemingly improvisatory thrust which makes the Gilels DG performance (on LP only) so compelling, but the sharpness with which he characterizes each variation is a delight, each time bringing a moment of revelation, and often relating this essentially middle-period work to much later inspirations. The six Bagatelles of Op. 126 equally find Brendel giving these fragments a weight, concentration and seriousness to reflect what else Beethoven was writing at the time. There is a gruffness of expression with charm eliminated. The third Bagatelle is the more moving for its simple gravity, and only in the final one of the group does Brendel allow himself to relax in persuasive warmth. Fur Elise makes a simple, haunting prelude to the group and the six Ecossaises a jolly postude with Brendel evoking the bluff jollity of Austrian dance music.

This disc, another installment in Brendel's outstanding Schubert series, recorded in digital sound for Philips in the late 1980's, comprises the A minor sonata, which was the first of Schubert's sonatas to be published (1825) and the three Klavierstucke D.946, late pieces that were assembled by Brahms and published in 1868, forty years after the composer's death. William Kinderman, in his liner notes, observes that thematic material from the A minor sonata was used in a contemporaneous song called "Gravedigger's Lament," the lyrics of which included the verse "Abandoned by all, cousin only to death, I wait at the brink, staring longingly into the grave."

In 1991 Brendel and the Berliners wee headliners at the Proms in London, wowing the huge Bank Holiday crowd with this Brahms Second; they returned to Berlin and set it down on tape. At the time, Abbado was still considered rather provisional as Karajan's successor, but he has always been a dedicated Brahmsian. It shows in the smooth, large-scaled, confident phrasing, and the plushness of the orchestra's sound in the latter days of Karajan's long reign remains.

Alfred Brendel: The Complete Vox, Turnabout and Vanguard Solo Recordings CD 24-29
Classical | EAC (ape, image), cue, log | 1607 MB, RS
Label: Brillant Cat. # 93761 | 6 CDs | 30 Sep 2008

Brendel became very much a different kind of pianist to me when he switched from Vox to Philips. In addition, I always felt Brendel's Schubert on Vox was stunning in every respect. Old mono Vox box of his Schubert sonatas that is so wonderful is his conception, so beautifully "Viennese" (for all that word implies) are his interpretations.

Every work here is a delight for different reasons, and three of them are more than that: the sonatas #s 40 and 52 and the Andante con Variazioni. Two are brief: #37 (10:33) and #40 (12:14). #37 is a charmer,with a brief Largo amidst two an open Allegro con Brio and a closing Presto-ma non Troppo. The outer movements are effervescent and quite memorable-the Finale slightly more than the first movement. #40 is divided between a nine minute first movement (Allegro e Innocente) and a three minute Presto.