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Alfred Brendel remains perhaps the preeminent thinking pianist, a loner to whom fame came through the power of imaginative integrity, an artist who has achieved -- at his best -- a profound rapport with and a unique understanding of piano literature from Bach to Schoenberg. Yet by his own account, "I did not come from a musical or intellectual family. ... I have not been a child prodigy. I do not have a photographic memory; neither do I play faster than other people. I am not a good sight-reader." Brendel's recording catalog is vast, stretching back to the dawn of the LP era. He is also a compelling writer and remained active in that capacity after retirement and into the mid-2020s.

Brendel was born to a family of Austrian background in Wiesenberg, Moravia, Czechoslovakia (in Czech, Wizemberg, and now Loučná nad Desnou in the Czech Republic) on January 5, 1931. He received piano lessons from ages six to 16 as the family moved from Zagreb to Graz, and studied composition privately while supporting himself in a variety of odd jobs. Brendel was among the first generation to learn from recordings of pianists like Alfred Cortot, Wilhelm Kempff, and Artur Schnabel, with conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini proving especially valuable. Master classes with Eduard Steuermann -- a pupil of Busoni and Schoenberg -- and Edwin Fischer completed his sparse musical education. A 1948 debut recital in Graz marked the beginning of his career, which was propelled by a prize at the Busoni Competition in Bolzano in 1949. His first recording, with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, appeared in 1950 or 1951 but wasn't the music for which he became better known; rather, it was Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 5 in G major, Op. 55.

Busoni's example, his mysticism and Faustian striving, fascinated the young Brendel; the latter recorded Busoni's Fantasia Contrappuntistica in the early '50s. The ensnaring and gradual liberation from Busoni's influence may be traced in the several essays Brendel wrote about him in the collection Musical Thoughts & After-Thoughts. Armed with high musical ideals, Brendel embarked upon an international recital and recording career which, in the '60s, saw his reputation grow throughout Europe and North America. He performed the entire cycle of Beethoven sonatas in London's Wigmore Hall in 1962, and recorded them for the budget Vox label, with the result that many classical listeners with more taste than money had their conceptions of repertory works deeply shaped by the pianist. In the '70s, he became an exclusive Philips artist, touring and recording a wide variety of composers including Liszt, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Bartók, and Schoenberg, and garnering numerous awards. He remains perhaps best known, however, for his readings of the Viennese Classicists and early Romantics, from Haydn and Mozart to Schumann.

He has published books of musical criticism -- and comic poetry. In 2004, he appeared in concert with his son, cellist Adrian Brendel. Brendel announced his retirement in 2007 and undertook one last worldwide concert and recital tour, ending in Vienna in December 2008, performing, appropriately enough, Mozart's Jeunehomme Piano Concerto. Brendel remained active as a writer, and, at age 94, he contributed an essay about Busoni to a reissue of his early-'50s recordings of the Fantasia Contrappuntistica and of Liszt's Weihnachtsbaum (the latter was the world-recorded premiere of that work). No reliable count of Brendel's hundreds of recordings exists; the "complete discography" on his website is a sparse accounting of his digital releases. His recordings, even the earliest ones, remain avidly listened to, however, and his influence among thoughtful classical music listeners is perhaps unmatched. ~ Adrian Corleonis & James Manheim

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was not only one of the greatest composers of the Classical period, but one of the greatest of all time. Surprisingly, he is not identified with radical formal or harmonic innovations, or with the profound kind of symbolism heard in some of Bach's works. Mozart's best music has a natural flow and irresistible charm, and can express humor, joy or sorrow with both conviction and mastery. His operas, especially his later efforts, are brilliant examples of high art, as are many of his piano concertos and later symphonies. Even his lesser compositions and juvenile works feature much attractive and often masterful music.

Mozart was the last of seven children, of whom five did not survive early childhood. By the age of three he was playing the clavichord, and at four he began writing short compositions. Young Wolfgang gave his first public performance at the age of five at Salzburg University, and in January 1762, he performed on harpsichord for the Elector of Bavaria. There are many astonishing accounts of the young Mozart's precocity and genius. At the age of seven, for instance, he picked up a violin at a musical gathering and sight-read the second part of a work with complete accuracy, despite his never having had a violin lesson.

In the years 1763-1766, Mozart, along with his father Leopold, a composer and musician, and sister Nannerl, also a musically talented child, toured London, Paris, and other parts of Europe, giving many successful concerts and performing before royalty. The Mozart family returned to Salzburg in November 1766. The following year young Wolfgang composed his first opera, Apollo et Hyacinthus. Keyboard concertos and other major works also came from his pen.

In 1769, Mozart was appointed Konzertmeister at the Salzburg Court by the Archbishop. Beginning that same year, the Mozarts made three tours of Italy, where the young composer studied Italian opera and produced two successful efforts, Mitridate and Lucio Silla. In 1773, Mozart was back in Austria, where he spent most of the next few years composing. He wrote all his violin concertos between 1774 and 1777, as well as Masses, symphonies, and chamber works.

In 1780, Mozart wrote his opera Idomeneo, which became a sensation in Munich. After a conflict with the Archbishop, Mozart left his Konzertmeister post and settled in Vienna. He received a number of commissions and took on a well-paying but unimportant Court post. In 1782 Mozart married Constanze Weber and took her to Salzburg the following year to introduce her to his family. 1782 was also the year that saw his opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail staged with great success.

In 1784, Mozart joined the Freemasons, apparently embracing the teachings of that group. He would later write music for certain Masonic lodges. In the early and mid-1780s, Mozart composed many sonatas and quartets, and often appeared as soloist in the 15 piano concertos he wrote during this period. Many of his commissions were for operas now, and Mozart met them with a string of masterpieces. Le nozze di Figaro came 1786, Don Giovanni in 1787, Così fan tutte in 1790, and Die Zauberflöte in 1791. Mozart made a number of trips in his last years, and while his health had been fragile in previous times, he displayed no serious condition or illness until he developed a fever of unknown origin near the end of 1791. ~ Robert Cummings