GG: Article on Alfred Brendel

[PHILIP.GARON@hq.doe.gov]

          This really isn't directly "on point" about GG, but I have
          just finished reading a very interesting profile of the
          pianist Alfred Brendel, written by A. Alvarez, which appears
          in the April 1, 1996, issue of the New Yorker magazine.  Our
          list-members who are interested in Brendel may want to look
          for this issue. The article does a good job of humanizing
          Brendel, and of revealing a wacky, "Dadaesque" side to
          his personality -- an "anarchic spirit," if you will.
          Because Brendel always looks so somber and professorial in
          his album photos, I would not have guessed that he had this
          aspect to his personality. (Although I have several of his
          CD's, I've never actually *seen* Brendel perform, and am
          sorry that I was not able to catch his performance of the
          "Emperor" Concerto on U.S. public television last week.)

          As I read the article, I kept looking for similarities with
          GG, but couldn't find many.  Though they're both great
          artists, Brendel and GG seem to be fundamentally different
          in their personalities and their attitudes toward performing
          (especially in public!).

          BTW:  Alvarez, who's a long-standing friend and London
          neighbor of Brendel (and therefore not *entirely* unbiased
          :-)) begins the profile with the claim that Brendel "is
          generally recognized to be the world's greatest living
          classical pianist."  What do the f-minor list-members think
          about THAT statement??

          Regards,

          Phil Garon