Brendel: Piano Sonata

Rating:
Summary: As a whole, even better than "Alfred Brendel In Portrait"
Review: Filmed some 30 years ago, the picture and sound are not the best one would like to have. But they are not too bad either or even quite acceptable. It's in decent colour and the sound is more than sufficient to carry all the meaning of the notes to say the least. But the running time is rather short, about the same as any CD and no more.

It strikes one that the appearance of Brendel isn't much different from "In Portrait" filmed some 30 years later save that in the more recent one, he had some six fingertips in bandage whereas in the earlier one only 4 -- but the sound of the latter is most wonderful. But as far as his playing is concerned, I rather prefer the younger Brendel: so much more spontaneous in the sense that the binding of phrase to phrase is so natural, and each note seems to carry a meaning of its own and not at all at the expense of the full drama or the forcefulness of the whole piece -- save a few bars in the slow movement of Hammerclavier where the sense of structure is not equally convincing. His Bagatelles is appealing too.

We also have a bonus footage of Julius Katchen. He had the most pliant and most supple (and hairy ) hands on DVD , even more so than Arrau. As far as his fingers are concerned, one might even compare them to those of Horowitz's. Yet the sound and picture is just barely acceptable as a result, I enjoy his Brahms violin sonata with SuK more. It's a shame that EMI didn't reditalize it before release.

Rating:
Summary: Not a pretty picture
Review: Since this is the only Opus 106 on DVD, it is mandatory for any lover of great music to own it. BUT, of all the 40 or so piano DVDs I have, this is the most frustrating. The performance is fine, especially if you like a broad tempo in the first movement. And, the Bagatelles are wonderful. Back to the BUT. The dirctor of this original video should be drawn and quartered. About 80% of this video is composed of shots of Brendel's face in various degrees of writhing and grimacing. If you are like me and believe that the actual music is produced by the fingers and would like to observe that process, you could turn your back on the screen and learn almost as much as by watching this. The cameraman manages to find many shots (his favorite: from the far end of the piano looking toward the pianist across the whole expanse of strings) that prevent you from viewing the keyboard at all. So, you might as well buy the CD, unless you want concrete proof that Herr Brendel, while an excellent pianist, just isn't a very attractive man. And, the dirctor of this video was [cool], and I don't mean the kind you want to fondle, either.