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Paul Lewis Remembers Alfred Brendel

With a performing career that spanned seven decades, Alfred Brendel built a reputation as a classical pianist that meant his name alone would sell out concerts. Known for his masterly interpretations of composers such as Schubert, Brahms and Liszt, he was the first pianist to record the entire piano works of Beethoven. \n\nBrendel came from an atypical background; he was not considered a child prodigy, and there were no musicians in his family. He had lessons, but for much of his life he was self-taught, once saying 'being self-taught, I learned to distrust things I hadn’t figured out myself'.\n\nPaul Lewis is regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation and has described Alfred Brendel as both tutor and mentor. He describes how he came to know Alfred, their shared backgrounds - both coming from families with no inherent musical ability - and Alfred’s approach to his work, believing the piece far outweighed the importance of the performer. \n\nJoin Paul as he describes a musician who collaborated with the best, a polymath who was also a published poet and an artist, a lover of the absurd, yet a dedicated perfectionist with his chosen art. This is an intimate glimpse into the life and career of a performer assured of his place as one of the greatest musicians of the postwar era.

Source: BBC 4