He was a wonderful teacher. He is extremely articulate and very demanding. He made no concessions to my age. In my first lesson, I was playing a Schubert piano sonata, and the first chord took 20 minutes. I played it again and again, and Brendel wandered around the room saying: “No, balance of sound wrong … Too much bass … Not quite the right colour.” I started hearing from inside his head. Eventually, I played the chord and he turned around and said, “Thank you,” and I knew it was right. But then, so help me God, I had to play the next chord.
Imogen Cooper, “A Master Bows Out”, The Guardian, 15 December 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/15/alfred-brendel-pianist-classical-music1, (Accessed 10 July 2024).
Imogen Cooper on a lesson with Alfred Brendel
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