Austria mourns the piano legend Alfred Brendel (94): a life's work

Austria mourns the piano legend Alfred Brendel (94): a life's work

The Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel died on June 17, 2025 at the age of 94. His death marks the end of an era for classical music, in which Brendel is one of the most important interpreters of works in classic and romantic piano music. He was born on January 5, 1931 in Wiesenberg, Northern Moravia, where he took his first musical steps before his family moved to Zagreb and later to Graz. There he took piano lessons and mostly taught himself to play the piano.

His international career started in 1949 after winning the Busoni competition. This was the first of many significant successes that quickly catapulted him into the ranks of the great pianists. Brendel was known for his outstanding performances by composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Franz Liszt. He was particularly characterized by his recordings of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas and was the first pianist to record the complete works by Beethoven for solo piano. 

appreciation and influence

The loss of Brendel was deeply mourned by various personalities of the music world. Vice Chancellor and Minister of Culture Andreas Babler recognized his influence and expressed his sympathy for the family. Karl Mahrer, cultural spokesman for the Vienna People's Party, referred to him as a musician and highlighted his musical handwriting. Werner Kogler, club chairman of the Greens, Brendels also emphasized far -reaching influence and his literary contributions to the music world.

Cultural City Councilor Veronica Kaup-Hasler called him a brilliant musician personality, which impresses with her artistic fearlessness. Brendel was awarded numerous honors for his outstanding contributions to music, including honorary doctors from the University of Oxford and Yale University, the Ernst von Siemens Musikpreis, the Herbert von Karajan Music Award and the Praemium Imperiale. He was also an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic and was awarded the Golden Medal of Honor and the Medal of Honor in Gold from the City of Vienna.

biographical highlights

Alfred Brendel was born in a family who borrowed a vacationer pension on the Adriacian Pensel Krk before the war. After years of war and at the age of 14 as a forced laborer, Brendel came to his first public concert in Graz at the age of 17. In the following decades he developed a global audience and performed with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Although Brendel retired from the concert podium in 2008, he remained actively, for example by performing poems. His repertoire never only included the big classics such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, but also the works of Schönberg and Liszt. His heir as a teacher and mentor for many subsequent pianists is also valued. His life story and career are not only a proof of his musical talent, but also for his significant influence on subsequent generations of musicians.

For more information about Alfred Brendel and his life's work, please visit 5min, wikipedia or [Welt] (https://www.welt.de/kultur/musik/article11973262/der-klavier-Klassiker-alfred-brendel-werd-80.html).