Product Description

"I was not a child prodigy; indeed, I had none of the requisite qualities for making a successful career." This "shortcoming" has not prevented Alfred Brendel from becoming one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. His solo recitals and appearances with the leading orchestras of the world make him a regular guest in London, Paris, New York, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, and Amsterdam, and at the major European and American music festivals.

In a series of dialogues with Martin Meyer, Brendel speaks about his life, the development of his career, his music-making, his travels, his poems and essays; about his childhood in Zagreb, adolescence in Graz, and experiences as a young man in Vienna ("I was in Vienna, but I was never a 'genuine' Viennese"); about literature, painting, architecture, and kitsch.

Brendel talks about the freedoms and obligations of a performer and discusses the work of musicians who have fascinated him- Alfred Cortot, Edwin Fischer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Wilhelm Kempff, and Bruno Walter-and those who have irritated him, as did Glenn Gould. The conversations between Brendel and Meyer are both serious and witty. Me of All People abounds in amusing anecdotes and contains penetrating insights into the music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Busoni, and Schoenberg.

Alfred Brendel emerges as a deep thinker, a passionate skeptic, and an emotional musician. He is a multitalented figure with an engaging sense of humor, a healthy dose of modesty, and an enormous appetite for life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #326675 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Booklist
Among the many enlightening and amusing things concert pianist Brendel says in this book-length interview is, "I specialize in what I am not playing." As followers of his career know, he never plays French or Russian music, adhering instead to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt; some Schumann and Brahms; and Schonberg's concerto. In these pages, they will find out his reasons for making such choices; his evaluation of how he and pianists he admires, as well as some he doesn't, have interpreted the Middle European heart of the piano literature; his estimation of the music he plays and doesn't play; and something of his life and his chief nonmusical pursuit: his sharply intelligent, lightly absurdist humorous poetry, which can be sampled in English in One Finger Too Many (1999). Astonishingly for so erudite a musician, he was the first in his family to pursue music at all. Equally astonishing to his detractors, who dislike his intellectuality, may be his emphatic dedication to emotional expression in piano playing. Must reading for serious music lovers. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Customer Reviews

Everything you want to learn...and more!
Numerous books are in print about Horowitz and the like. But there has never been much, aside from recordings, about my favorite pianist, Alfred Brendel. Recently, a two-DVD set was released entitled Alfred Brendel -- in Portrait. It was great, with one DVD dedicated to performance, the other, a biographical special. But the Brendel fan can delve a bit deeper with this book. Brendel speaks of a wide variety of topics, from his views on Balakirev's Islamey and Rachmaninoff to his views on politics and religion. There are some really interesting ideas and quotes interspersed that can be inspirational not only to the player, but also to the individual encountering life experiences each day. I highly recommend.

For The Advanced Music Lover Only!
It must be said up front that this is not a book for the casual classical music lover. If you are not familiar with the classical piano literature or Mr. Brendel's recordings, this is not the book for you.
But for the advanced classical piano student or knowledgeable listener, this book sheds much light on Mr. Brendel's opinions and thoughts about the great composers and how he feels they should be played. He is not just a virtuoso pianist, but a world-class musician. His comments on interpretation of the classics and about other famous pianists, past and present, are quite interesting.