The veil of order

"I was not a child prodigy; indeed, I had none of the requisite qualities for making a successful career" - which has not really prevented Alfred Brendel from becoming one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.

In these dialogues with Martin Meyer he speaks about his life, the development of his career, his music-making, his travels, his poems and essays; about his childhood in Zagreb, adolescence in Graz, and experiences as a young man in Vienna ("I was in Vienna, but I was never a "genuine" Viennese"); about literature, painting, architecture and kitsch.

He talks about the liberties and obligations of a performer and discusses the work of musicians that have fascinated him, such as Edwin Fischer, Cortot, Kempff, Furtwangler and Bruno Walter, or irritated him, like Glenn Gould.

The conversations, which are both serious and witty, abound in amusing anecdotes and contain penetrating insights into the music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Busoni and Schoenberg.