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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have been on the lookout for this recording, partly because Brendel plays Beethoven so well, and partly because some of the bagatelles and the rondo in c were compositions I learnt many years ago. Brendel is such a consummate artist, the simplicity of his playing gives one the impression they are easy to play - not the case if one wishes to play them well! Apart from the sheer pleasure of hearing these piano pieces, this is also a terrific way to brush up on ones piano skills,technique and interpretation - a most positive way to assist ones enjoyment. If you are not a pianist, then sit back and let the melodious sounds wash over you and help you to chill out.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Brendel succeeds in taking Beethoven's bagatelles to new levels -the precision of his playing and the complexity of sound he extracts from the instrument make this CD a must for every piano enthusiast.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Never call them trifles!
26 Dec 2006
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In addition to his 32 sonatas, astonishing "Diabelli Variations," and 5 concertos with orchestra, Beethoven also composed a series of smaller pieces he called "bagatelles." The name, which more or less designates a little nothing, a bit of whimsy or fluff, scarcely designates the imaginative and emotional content that Beethoven often invested in these little works. Many were studies for other pieces, or ways of trying out ideas before developing them in larger works. Listening to Alfred Brendel play these works is revelatory: he convinces you that these short works are perhaps the most profound things that Beethoven ever penned. He knows them intimately, having edited some for the Wiener Urtext Edition of Beethoven's works. Yet while he brings these pieces a sense of gravitas, he never forgets that brevity is the soul of wit. In short, this disk lets you enjoy Beethoven's final works for his own instrument played with as close to perfection as you're going to get.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Sensitive renditions of Beethoven at his most personal
4 July 2003
Format:Audio CD
Listening to this CD, it is quite easy to conjure up a picture of Beethoven playing at home, by himself, for himself. These pieces are among his most intimate and this recording gives the feeling of eavesdropping outside the composer's open window (something he never tolerated, by the way!). Many of the bagatelles are such gems that one can only regret that LvB didn't do more with them.
If you are one of those people who think Beethoven only wrote loud and bombastic music, listening to this recording will immediately dispel any such nonsense.
This recording is also Brendel at his best. Understated and elegant, he lets the music speak for itself. None of the regrettable -- and regrettably common -- fireworks or idiosyncratic interpretations that tend to mar Beethoven recordings by, say, the likes of Bernstein, Gould and Kovacevich.
The previous reviewer is simply wrong. This is an incredible recording that impresses me more with each playing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A must have in your Beethoven collection
28 July 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Yikes! Reading previous negative reviews on this title is a bit shocking! Despite their trifling title, the Bagatelles cover an amazing range of music. People reared on the Beethoven symphonies and concertos are in for a real treat when they discover his chamber and piano music. If people come in expecting the grandness of those works, they risk being disappointed. Brendel is an acknowledged Beethoven interpreter for good reason. His understanding of the music is phenomenal, bringing out detail and depth that is often missing in other recordings. His technique is flawless. And he's up to the incredible range of music the Bagatelle's present to any performer. Having made my case for the recording, I do share a similar criticism of Brendal's performance that others have made. Brendal get so lost in the complexity, texture, and detail of the music that he seems to leave his heart behind. At times, he seems almost pedantic and bloodless. Still, I've listened to this CD for almost 100 hours since buying it and I'm not tired of it yet. What Brendal does best is hold up the music for a long and meaningful conversation between listener, composer, and performer.
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