Alfred Brendel (1931–2025)

Alfred Brendel studied piano and composition in Zagreb and Graz, completing his studies with Edwin Fischer, Paul Baumgartner and Eduard Steuermann. Over the 60 years of his concert career, he performed numerous cycles of Beethoven’s sonatas and concertos, making the first complete recording of the piano music and took a prominent role in highlighting Haydn’s importance as composer, establishing Schubert’s Sonatas and Schoenberg’s Concerto in the repertoire, and rekindling interest in Liszt’s piano music.

He appeared regularly at the world’s most important musical centres and festivals with the leading orchestras and conductors, and his extensive discography contributed to making him one of the most respected artists of our time. Two box sets have been released with most of his recordings: “The Complete Vox: Turnabout and Vanguard Solo Recordings” (2008) with 35 CDs and “The Complete Philips recordings” (2015) with 114 CDs including several live performances.

He received 23 honorary degrees from universities including Lisbon, Weimar, Cambridge Oxford, Yale and The Juilliard School, the Honorary Vice-Presidency of the Royal Academy of Music and a number of prestigious awards such as honorary membership in the Vienna Philharmonic, the Sonning and Siemens Prizes and the Praemium Imperiale in Japan.

Alfred Brendel’s numerous essays have been comprehensively published in many languages and his collected poems have appeared in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Czech. Bärenreiter published his conversations with Peter Gülke on interpretation and his most recent book of essays is titled “Naivität und Ironie” (Wallstein Verlag, 2025). 

Concluding his concert appearances in 2008, Alfred Brendel continued his activities with lectures (recorded by Unitel and Supraphon), readings and chamber music master classes. He devoted a significant part of his time to sharing his experiences as a musician with younger artists.