Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel dies at 94
Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, a legend of classical music, died on Tuesday at the age of 94 in London, where he had lived for many years, his spokesman announced. The pianist, known in particular for his interpretations of Beethoven, "died peacefully (...) and surrounded by his loved ones," the spokesman said.
Born in 1931 in Wiesenberg, in what is now the Czech Republic, before his family moved to Graz, Austria, Alfred Brendel achieved fame late in life. It came to him after a concert in the early 1970s in London, a city that this virtually self-taught artist then made his own.
"I came here from Vienna because I wanted to live in a big, cosmopolitan city. At that time, Vienna seemed provincial to me, despite its orchestra and its opera," he recently said in an interview with France Musique.
He then gave numerous concerts and made recordings, specializing in the works of Beethoven and Schubert, as well as Mozart. He is sometimes accompanied on stage by his son, Adrien, a cellist.
In 2004, he received the Ernst von Siemens Prize, one of the most prestigious distinctions in the music world.
A scholar, Alfred Brendel also wrote numerous essays and poems. In 2008, after a farewell concert at the Musikverein, Vienna's musical temple, he retired and still lived in the British capital's Hampstead district. He continued, however, to give lectures and masterclasses.
The Royal Philharmonic Society praised X as a "giant of music with a touch of great tenderness." "He was a model of civilization, a deeply cultured man, passionate about music, who shared this love without ever compromising, either artistically or personally. He will be greatly missed," British cellist Steven Isserlis said on X.
Alfred Brendel had four children and four grandchildren.
La Croıx
