On January 5, 2020, Alfred Brendel will have his 89th birthday. Thumb up please if you think it's a day to celebrate!

The man has an absolutely perfect touch.

How lucky we are to have these marvelous recordings of Alfred Brendel. Nobody plays Schubert better.

Brendel is like an old friend whose entrance in a room always brings comfort and joy. I remember his Vox Beethoven Sonata Cycle back in the day and how it turned heads . He took up the Schubert Baton passed to him by Schnabel and brought a pathos and vitality to these long neglected works. He always paid strict attention to tempo and dynamics and tried to play the works as written and to me he almost always got things right. He writes with both intelligence and humor, his eclectic and sometimes odd musings are the works of a man who despite his humorous appearance thinks deeply . I am happy he has lived a long fruitful life. One could only wish that Schubert had done the same.

During 1963 I was a medical student in Santiago de Chile. I went to every classical music concert in the city, in order to write a weekly musical comment for the students paper. In the program appeared the 5th Beethoven piano concerto, with a renowned soloist. One week before the concert, the programmed soloist had a problem and in a hurry the young (31 years old) Alfred Brendel was contacted and asked to take the part, which he fortunately did. At that time he was completely unknown in Chile. I attended his concert anyhow, and I still remember the impression his playing made in me. I was fascinated and predicted that he would become a great pianist. I am afraid he already was a great pianist and we were simply unaware of his existence and his superb quality. Alfred Brendel retired a few years ago, after a distinguished career, being considered one of the world foremost masters in Bach, Schubert and Beethoven. The present recording of Schubert late piano concertos attest to his technical perfection and intelectual prowess.

His performances are so absolutely admirable

Alfred Brendel has been one of my favorite pianists for over 60 years. (I'm now 82.) My knowlege of classical music and its performers is one of an avid listener, but I've listened thoroughly enough that I was able to start and run a business selling classical sheet music. Esther Breslau

I could listen to Brendel play Schubert forever! In fact, I think I will!

so wonderful youtube lets these 3 masterpieces be heard and brendel,s genius appreciated

Однажды в Лондоне, проходя недалеко от дома Бренделя в Хамстеде, я услышала как за деревьям его сада раздавались звуки его рояля. Альфред Брендель играл Шуберта. Это было очарование.

Brendel's Schubert and Beethoven will never be surpassed.

This is the best interpretation of schubert. Everything is perfect 👌

Schubert! Brendel! Sublime!

He was playing this at the time he was laying down his definitive recordings of Schubert for Philips which will never be bettered so this a really important video document. Thank you so much uploading.

Very gracious pianist. Sometimes being theatrical can be distracting, he makes it sound, look, and feel good.

Easy to get a feel for the music as a whole. And comfortable and beautiful to listen to with Brendle.

I greeted Alfred Brendel in a reception in Dallas following his performance and was shocked to see virtually all of his fingers had band-aids on or near their tips - as in this recording at 1:27 min.

Sans commentaires ! C'est la perfection. Brendel est le meilleur interprète de Schubert de tous les temps !!!

Brendel did lots of good work for for the world of classical music.

Thank you for posting it.My husband an I had seen Brendel in two different occasions at Wigmore Hall. And by coincidence in one of these occasions we met him in person the day after the recital at Heathrow flying to Paris, just like us. A real gentleman and a great pianist.

What a wonderful 1 3/4 hours of the most inspired music from one of the greatest composers played by a truly remarkable musician! Thanks so much for posting this video.

Excelente presentación del Maestro Brendel para estas bellas obras de Frank Schubert. Muchas gracias por el aporte,

Been a Brendel fan for a long long time. Thanks for posting this.

Schubert's final sonatas as how they are played by the great Brendel are sublime. The Rondo in D 959 in particular is celestial. This is a perfect union of two poets: Schubert and Brendel.

Grandios, mehr kann ich dazu nicht sagen.

Brendel plays Schubert, wonderful. And I so enjoy ALL the advertisements every few minutes. D.A. NYC

Schubert's C minor sonata D. 958 - my favorite sonata of them all. Let's see what he does with it.

Beautiful. One spot is very clean and crisp, though it is played fast, yet distinct.

i came to this video after hearing the use of D960's second movement in the film 'the favourite' about a year and a half ago and i've been hooked ever since

He always makes music delicious like a cooking mother of mine.

Schubert, played like this, is powerful.

Bravo!

splendide.

Schubert : le royaume de Brendel, quelle chance d'avoir cette vidéo !

Al absolutely rocks it. Top notch. D.A. NYC

Happy Birthday Mr. Brendel! Thanks for many years of wonderful music.

good production quality for such an old recording

Best Franz Schubert's perfomer of all times! #AlfredBrendel

L'andantino de la Sonate en LA majeur D959...est tout simplement divin...Brendel est rarement vu aussi habité par la musique de Schubert...la musique des dieux...

He knows Schubert as if he has personally met him.

We came from the winter sleep. This is a Nuri Bilge Ceylan movie. This song is playing on the movie. Part of 42:53

Very, very enjoyable..

A true miracle!

Thank Dao for the masters, cause they giving us, a way to look into the mystery of the beuty of this world, what hold sound? the air? the soul? the non being.

Magico😢

God D958 is so underrated

Sublime

best video on youtube

Vladivostok 1969, I scrolled down to look at the licensing agreements and they don't match the actual content. For example, Amir Katz is listed as the performer of the C-minor sonata on Sony Classical. Apparently these record companies are incorrectly claiming they own the content of your video and are getting revenues from the adverts.

Wow...what insight and integrity (along with flawless technique). Pianists like him are becoming pretty rare.

Thank you Haruki Murakami

The Erasmus of the music world!

imagine the level of love Brendel put in learning to play like this: then laugh at your level of love for your own vocation. I mean: this is an example of the highest level of love for a vocation there is out there. I could recall now Perahia & Pires.

❤ Maravillas 😮

Did actually anyone notice that the opening motive of the 1st mv. of 960 seems to relate to a part of the hymn "Adeste Fideles" (engl. "O Come, All Ye Faithful")? You can hear this best at 01:21:50, where the motive is varied and then repeated once a third higher. It lacks jumping down a quart at the motive's end and when repeated a second down, but when listening to it, I always think of the line "O come, let us adore Him" from the hymn...

Master.

Best goddam KZfaq video of all time

jouer pendant 1h45 sans partition, mémoriser toutes ces notes !!! cela reste un mystère du cerveau humain, pour moi

EL MAESTRO

Brendel le plus grand interprète de Schubert, et ces sonates sont de véritables bijoux. Mais les coupures pub, quelle hérésie !!!

Interprétation parfaite!....

still magnificent

What a wonderful interpreting from F. Schubert. The best.

Gracie Maestro per quell' approcio spirituale che rivela l'essenza profonda di questa opera didvina.

The development at 58:49 touches me so much every time.

Brendel interpreta a Schubert en el sentido mas amplio y profundo de su significado. Escuchando su canto uno concluye que Brendel es Schubert

Divin

كافكا على الشاطئ Kafka on the Shore

Too bad Beethoven never heard these sonatas, he would have been star-struck.

The fact that Brendel is mostly self-taught always makes me wonder “…how?”…

Fist thank or posting this musical treasure 2nd i agree with positive opinions like Chilean comments and from the criics i only can say Quijotes words Ladran Sancho señal que cabalgamos (Cervantes Don Quixote)

with these to notch petformers you‘ll never know if they play it for artistic reasons or because there is a hole in the catalogue.

AS SONATAS PARA PIANO DE SCHUBERT, JÁ ESTIVERAM EM BEM MELHORES E COMPETENTES MÃOS DE INTÉRPRETES COMO: ARTHUR SCHNABEL, CLAUDIO ARRAU, PAUL BADURA-SKODA, JOERG DEMUS. AS INTERPRETAÇÕES DE BRENDEL, SUBTRAEM A ESSÊNCIA POÉTICA E DRAMÁTICA DE SCHUBERT E SÃO FRIAS, SUBTRAINDO TAMBÉM AQUILO QUE É FUNDAMENTAL NO ÓTIMO INTERPRETE QUE É A EMOÇÃO.

Les "divines longueurs" un qualificatif dont on affuble volontiers certains passages de la musique de Schubert (ici, le 4ème mvt de la D 958, 2ème de la D959 et 4ème encore de la D960) sont, selon les musicologues, la transcription musicale par Schubert du "bruit du monde". Nietzsche, en comparant Beethoven et Schubert, les décrit ainsi: alors que Beethoven serait l'auditeur idéal d'un ménétrier, Schubert serait ce ménétrier idéal car de tous, c'est lui qui a obtenu l'héritage musical le plus riche, et, dit-il, les musiciens futurs pourront tirer profit presque sans limite des innombrables inventions qu'il a laissées, étant déjà bien connu de ses biographes pour être friand de ces mêmes inventions, et aussi un musicien estimé de Beethoven.

He can play like that with a band-aid on his finger.

1:07:25

He's wearing some kind of protection on some of his fingertips. Is that some special "aid-product" for pianists? If so I think I could use it at times! (The performance is admirable and quite interesting, Brendel being steeped in Schubert milieu and inheritance. I like his Beethoven but in these sonatas I generally prefer Richter.)

proof of beauty and goodness on earth

땡큐

I came from "Kafka on the Shore". Anyone else?

41:23 Andantino

Mr. Brendel had his 2nd finger hurt on his right hand, might have been painful to play for almost 2 hours (That's not mentioning multiple possible takes)

it seems to see Schubert himself playing, a reincarnation

( 53:53 IV RONDO SONATA A MAJOR D 959 )

I don't get why, in the D958, the first movement rushes by so???/

I believe this man would be a wonderful conductor.Chrish12345-Your comments have the stench of frustration.

I have this video

¿Qué tiene puesto en los dedos?

Meus caros amigos alfred brendel é de uma familha dividida onde na segunda guerra mundial A parte de alfred foi para russia Enquato a outra foi para o brasil EU SOU UM PARENTE DISTANTE DE ALFRED BRENDEL MEU NOME É Axel Aluá Falavena Brendel

4:33

El apreciar a brahms muy temprano y en el caribe no me permitio valorar a tiempo a schubert

00:22

wow he's tall

In , our family tree.

Some of his cadence is too urgent, but regardless of that he's a great talent and very deserving of praise.

Wow, in 1988 he was already half bald.

Why is everybody so free with poor Schubert. He was surely a simple man, but they all want to pull his music here and there, they want to be high-powered and showy. This has nothing to do with Schubert, in my opinion. Is it that this sonata is just so boring if you play in time? I was always taught to keep the tempo and express with the tone. I find this much more pleasing and as being faithful to the composer. You do not need to show who you are and be different at all cost! i think that Richter shows more respect and succeeds where others fail, usually. There is a lot to the axiom: "let the notes speak for themselves". My favourite Schubert player is Clifford Curzon.

哀しみと仄かな希望が疾走するシューベルトのピアノソナタ。シューベルトのピアノソナタはタッチの強弱が明瞭でテンポの切れが良くなくてはならない。これが不明瞭では哀しみと仄かな希望が疾走するシュベルトのソナタは表現できない。この点でブレンデルの演奏は申し分ない。

He does CHOPIN.

Very" technic" but not cold...