Alfred Brendel talks to Gina Thomas

One of the world’s greatest living pianists Alfred Brendel reflects on music and his work in conversation with journalist Gina Thomas.

Brendel is famous for his interpretations of the great composers Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Liszt. Although he had his first piano lessons at the age of six, he had little formal training and regards his unconventional musical background as an advantage. In a prolific career that began in the 1950s, he has won countless awards for his recording, including the Léonie Sonning Prize, the Siemens Prize and the Prix Venezia. The conversation will be interspersed with excerpts from some of his best-known recordings.

Brendel has now retired from the stage and has just published Music, Sense and Nonsense: Collected Essays and Lectures. He is one of the world’s most influential writers on music and the book brings together all of his published essays and articles alongside some new previously unpublished material.

Here he talks to the UK cultural correspondent of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Gina Thomas.

In association with the Woodstock Music Society.

Supported by Ian and Carol Sellars.