Don Satz wrote:

>Since I'm the one who speaks up most frequently for Brendel, I'll continue
>with that tradition.  As I was reading Felix's comments, I was thinking of
>Brendel's Haydn series and his recording of Schubert's D.959 on Philips
>(first recording).  They're perfect, revelatory, and display supreme
>mastery.  Brendel's pacing, drama, lightness and playfulness when called
>for, and concept of these works is what music is all about for me.

Touche.  I don't know that much of his Haydn, but what I heard was indeed
very good.  Brendel's Schubert - I don't know his D 959, but I've just
listened again to parts of his Wanderer Fantasy and other late sonatas
(those from the 1980's) and they are much more imaginative and daring than
I remembered.  But as I said, the man is inconsistent - his playing (esp in
Mozart) can become very brittle, and sometimes he goes back into his shell
and the playing becomes inflexible and flat-footed - the fugue from his op
106 is a case in point.  My assessment of his pianism was overly severe -
I think part of the problem is that he's a Philips artist, and they don't
leave a lot of air between the notes - but he does have a problem with his
chords in loud passages (or at least did when he recorded the Schubert
sonatas in the '80s) - he doesn't have a wide dynamic range at this end,
and his fortissimos don't roll out of the piano, but sound rather hard and
pinched.  But you're right, the musical thought behind the sounds is often
first-rate.  However, his Beethoven 5th really is a dud in my view - no
fire or grandeur, and you need at least one of those in this work.

Felix Delbruck
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