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The Moscow Times Moscow Guide – Winter 2008

Since the middle of autumn one of the most important topics of discussion, could only be … no, not the financial crisis… New Year! The winter issue of The Moscow Times Moscow Guide is entirely devoted to New Years celebrations. Seven great ideas for celebrating the “Night of Nights” will help readers finalise their plans and choose how and where to party, give fresh ideas and lots of practical advice.

And don’t forget – problems will come by themselves, but happiness and luck need an invitation. That why the more cheerful and light-hearted your celebration of the coming holiday is, the happier and more successful 2009 will be for you.

The Crisis: Signs of a Kremlin Fearful Of Unrest
Sociologist Yevgeny Gontmakher has painted a disturbing picture of what might emerge from the financial crisis, forecasting continued unemployment, huge protests and spreading violence.

Market Matters: Huge Grain Harvest No Boon for Farmers
This year Russia is enjoying the biggest grain harvest it has ever seen -- and farmers couldn't be more worried.



Thursday, January 08, 2009 Updated at 31 December 2008 22:36 Moscow Time.

The Moscow Times » Issue 4030 » City Wise

Philips Benjamin Ealovega

Self-taught since age 16, Brendel became a virtuoso performer on his own.

Piano Master Brendel Makes Last Trip to Moscow

13 November 2008By Maria Antonova / Staff WriterAlfred Brendel can produce a long list of reasons why his musical career came as a surprise. "I was not a child prodigy; I'm not Jewish; I'm not from Eastern Europe; I'm not a good sight reader," the classical pianist has said. "I'm completely at a loss to explain why I made it."

Over the past 60 years, Brendel has dedicated himself to thoughtful interpretations of classical piano works, primarily by German composers. Though not a flamboyant crowd-pleaser on stage like some other noted pianists, Brendel is known to spend hours and even years poring over a single piece of music.

This fall, the 77-year-old Brendel has set off on one final concert tour before retiring from public performances. The trip to the Moscow Conservatory, where he will play Friday, is a quick dash eastward between stops in Milan and Brussels.

Raised in the worldly atmosphere of postwar Europe, Brendel above all values intellect in an artist. "Without it, the work of art may be full of love and passion, but it's amateurish," he said in a 2000 film documentary about him and his work. His meticulous efforts to respect the music he plays has won him the reputation of a responsible musician who does not misrepresent the original essence of a composer's work.

"He is the last of the great pianists of the 20th century, like Rubinstein and Michelangeli," said Moscow music critic Ilya Ovchinnikov. "He is widely respected as a music essayist as well, and he has already tried to leave the stage to focus on writing."

Philips & Benjamin Ealovega The 77-year-old pianist is famous for his faithful renditions of classic pieces.

Born in Moravia (present-day Czech Republic), Brendel was carted around prewar Eastern Europe by his parents as his father moved through an odd mix of jobs, which included managing a hotel in Yugoslavia and running a cinema in Zagreb. He took piano lessons but never had any formal musical education and was largely self-taught past the age of 16. When his first public recital was held in Graz, Brendel was 17 and was considering a career in art -- his watercolors were on view at a nearby gallery. But after he won the prestigious Busoni piano competition the following year, he decided to focus on music and told a friend to burn his artwork (the friend kept it stashed away instead).

Brendel achieved wider recognition when he recorded the entire piano works of Beethoven in the 1960s, the first performer to complete the feat. Then he did it two more times.

In the literary world, Brendel has not focused strictly on music theory, as he unexpectedly debuted with a poetry collection a decade ago. The divergence in form was paired with a new style as well -- his lavish poems are a far cry from his austerity at the piano keys. In one, a concert pianist grows an extra index finger to jab into the air while using the others for musical purposes. With poetry Brendel seems to have let his imagination run wild -- something that he has avoided during decades of playing music composed by others.

For his last concert in Russia, Brendel will stick to his usual repertoire, which doesn't often venture away from Beethoven, Mozart, Shubert, Liszt and Brahms; he is not the type to end his musical career with a bang. In an interview with German writer Martin Meyer, the media-shy Brendel wished that all artists had "remained as anonymous in their everyday life as Shakespeare," whose private affairs were so hidden from view that they have been lost to history.

Alfred Brendel will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 at the Large Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. 13/6 Bolshaya Nikitskaya Ul. M. Arbatskaya. 629-2060.