The title Great Pianists of the 20th Century – Alfred Brendel III refers to the third volume of the Great Pianists of the 20th Century video series, a collection of commercially released DVDs that present live and studio performances by eminent pianists of the modern era. The series was produced in the late 1990s by EuroArts (formerly Video Arts International) and issued on DVD and VHS formats.
Series overview
- Purpose – To document and disseminate historically significant performances by distinguished pianists active during the twentieth century.
- Scope – The complete collection comprises individual volumes, each dedicated to a single artist and containing curated excerpts from concerts, master classes, and recordings spanning the artist’s career.
- Editorial approach – Selections were chosen by musicologists and producers with input from the artists or their estates, accompanied by documentary commentary, biographical notes, and occasional interview segments.
Alfred Brendel – Volume III
- Artist – Alfred Brendel (b. 1931), Austrian pianist renowned for his interpretations of the Classical and early‑Romantic repertoire, particularly the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms.
- Content – The DVD presents a series of performance excerpts drawn from Brendel’s concert activity and studio recordings made between the 1960s and the 1990s. Representative works included are:
- Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F‑minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” (live, 1979)
- Schubert: Piano Sonata in B‑flat major, D. 960 (studio, 1989)
- Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D‑minor, K. 466 (with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, 1983)
- Brahms: Piano Pieces, Op. 119 (solo recital, 1995)
- Supplementary material – The volume contains a brief documentary segment (approximately 15 minutes) in which Brendel discusses his approach to interpretation, as well as archival interviews with contemporaries.
- Release details – First issued in 1999 (EuroArts catalogue number 001‑003), the DVD is presented in standard definition (NTSC/PAL) with subtitles in English, German, and French.
Reception and significance
- The Great Pianists series has been cited in music reference works as a valuable audiovisual resource for scholars, educators, and enthusiasts.
- Reviewers in specialist publications (e.g., Gramophone and The Musical Times) highlighted the Brendel volume for its insightful program notes and the high audio‑visual quality of the archival recordings.
Availability
- Original DVDs are out‑of‑print but remain accessible through secondary markets, library collections, and selected streaming platforms that have licensed the EuroArts catalogue.
Note – While the series and the specific Brendel volume are documented in commercial catalogues and music reference literature, detailed scholarly analysis of the individual DVD contents is limited; thus, the description above reflects the information publicly available from the producer’s releases and reputable music periodicals.
