Alfred BRENDEL
Alfred Brendel on Music
Three lectures: Does Classical Music
Have to Be Entirely Serious?; Musical Character(s) as Exemplified in
Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas; Light
and Shade of Interpretation
rec. Schüttkasten, Salzburg, 25-27 September 2010.
Picture format 16:9; Sound format LPCM stereo, DTS 5.0; Subtitles EN, DE,
ES, FR, IT, KR, CH, JP; Region Code 0 (Worldwide)
UNITEL CLASSICS 
703408
[225:00]
Master pianist, Alfred Brendel may no longer be giving concerts, but he is
still around to present music to the public, just in different ways. In September
2010, he gave several lectures about music at the Salzburg Festival, speaking
and playing on the piano excerpts from the works he was discussing. In addition,
in the third lecture, Light and Shade of Interpretation, some recordings
are played as examples, and some scores are projected on a screen behind the
stage.
Brendel looks a bit like a stand-up comedian coming on-stage in the Catskills,
with a shaggy-dog look and a self-deprecating attitude. Unfortunately, while
Brendel is a great musician, and has many interesting things to say about
music, his delivery is somewhat lacking. In spite of the fact that he has
long lived in England, his English is a bit halting. For these lectures, he
reads from prepared notes, and does so deliberately, with little emotion.
However, when he starts playing the piano, this changes. In the first lecture,
Does Classical Music Have to Be Entirely Serious?, his exaggerated
facial expressions indicate which parts of the pieces he is playing are funny.
But it’s a bit of a slog getting through these lectures. It would almost have
been better if he had spoken in German, at least for the DVD, where one could
display sub-titles. I recall a series of videos Brendel did discussing and
performing Schubert’s late piano works. In these films he speaks directly
to the camera with no notes – in German – and is much more lively than on
the current films.
While Brendel has much to say, there is no real feeling of a speaker entrancing
the audience, as the best lecturers can do. I had more the feeling of watching
a lecture by a teacher, one that I was required to watch, with little real
enjoyment. The lectures are long enough that they seem to stretch out: interestingly,
each one is between 70 and 80 minutes, that is, the length of a CD, rather
than the usual 52 minutes for a documentary or other work designed to be broadcast
on television. This makes me think that there will be a CD version of these
lectures in the future. But they seem longer than that.
I feel bad having to criticize Alfred Brendel, who is one of my favorite pianists,
over the delivery of his lectures. His piano playing is wonderful, and the
material he presents is interesting. It’s just that he doesn’t have what it
takes to be a public speaker.
Kirk McElhearn
Kirk McElhearn writes about more than just music on his blog Kirkville
(http://www.mcelhearn.com).
Alfred Brendel gives three interesting lectures on music, but his delivery
makes them a tough slog.