A very refined and interesting man, and I think sincere, too. There is not a trace of arrogance or "glitter". We are not supposed to care, after all, but it's heart-warming when artists do not disappoint as men or women!
What a treasure, i was riveted by Arrau's speech, so beautifully considered, and the choices are typically solid-gold, tho varied enough and well explained. The natural, unforced modesty is humbling as is his admiration for his colleagues. Too bad about the musical silences, but i'm now inspired to look for Jennie Tourel's Ravel. Thank you for this illuminating glimpse of a great man and artist.
I'm always astounded when great musicians with stupendous techniques talk about Schnabel . Wish I could hear what they're talking about ;same goes for Cortot !
Clinical technical accuracy doesn't necessarily equate to great music-making! You mention Schnabel and Cortot. These two visionary artists managed to convey the vital heartbeat of the great works they played. In the case of Schnabel, it was especially Beethoven and Schubert and from Cortot Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt. Indeed there were wrong notes and rushed phrases in some of the recordings by both of the above-mentioned pianists. Nevertheless so great and noble were their musical conceptions and their abilities to find the meaningful core of a composition, wrong notes occurring possibly in the heat of the moment became somewhat unimportant. I believe Arrau understood this being such a profound musician himself.
Thank you, Erwin!...'Der Dichter spricht' :-) Really, he had a wonderful personality and needless to say, he was a great pianist and probably also a good teacher here in Berlin [Stern'sches Konservatorium]. Oh, I forgot, he had an overwhelming intuition and an enormous understanding of music, of course ;-). There are not many like him...
On the whole, there are no real surprises amongst Arrau's musical choices, with the possible exception of 'Erwartung' (although he did record some Schoenberg). His wide-ranging culture is apparent although not advertised, and his modesty in choosing no recording of his own comes as a welcome contrast to some other performers that have been interviewed for this programme … In spite of silences instead of musical extracts, this is a Desert Island Discs episode to relish! Thanks for the upload.
1. Schubert’s 9th Symphony (Furtwangler) 2. Scheherazade Ravel La Flute Enchantee (Jennie Tourel) 3. Goyescas Granados Los Requiebros (Alicia de Larrocha) 4. Piano Concerto No 2 Saint-Saens (Emil Gilels) 5. Erwartung Schoenberg (Μητρόπουλος) 6. Die junge Nonne Schubert (Schwarzkopf + Fischer) 7. Sonata A major D. 959 Schubert (Schnabel) 8. String Quartet No 15 Op 132 Third Movement “Heiliger Dankgesang”Beethoven ( Koeckert Quartet)
Indeed! And it's interesting that this very critical man already chose a "desert island record" of Alicia de Larrocha in 1960, when she was only 37 years old... that says something about his high opinion of her!
+Jim, TWICE's pet gerbil Oh Mr. please, excuse my fellow chilean friend. He didn't get what you meant the first time he read that comment of yours and that's why he was kind of rude to you... that's for sure... Greetings from another chilean ;)
Interesting and cultured choices here. Arrau of course understood the idea of the hypothetical desert island, unlike the film director Otto Preminger who famously didn't quite get it and became very angry and upset when asked if he would like to build a hut on his 'island'.
What a great man, what a beautiful soul, so smart and modest...
Thank you so much for posting!
A very refined and interesting man, and I think sincere, too. There is not a trace of arrogance or "glitter". We are not supposed to care, after all, but it's heart-warming when artists do not disappoint as men or women!
That was so wonderful to hear. What a charmer Arrau was!
What a treasure, i was riveted by Arrau's speech, so beautifully considered, and the choices are typically solid-gold, tho varied enough and well explained. The natural, unforced modesty is humbling as is his admiration for his colleagues. Too bad about the musical silences, but i'm now inspired to look for Jennie Tourel's Ravel. Thank you for this illuminating glimpse of a great man and artist.
I'm always astounded when great musicians with stupendous techniques talk about Schnabel . Wish I could hear what they're talking about ;same goes for Cortot !
Clinical technical accuracy doesn't necessarily equate to great music-making! You mention Schnabel and Cortot. These two visionary artists managed to convey the vital heartbeat of the great works they played. In the case of Schnabel, it was especially Beethoven and Schubert and from Cortot Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt.
Indeed there were wrong notes and rushed phrases in some of the recordings by both of the above-mentioned pianists. Nevertheless so great and noble were their musical conceptions and their abilities to find the meaningful core of a composition, wrong notes occurring possibly in the heat of the moment became somewhat unimportant. I believe Arrau understood this being such a profound musician himself.
Thank you, Erwin!...'Der Dichter spricht' :-)
Really, he had a wonderful personality and needless to say, he was a great pianist and probably also a good teacher here in Berlin [Stern'sches Konservatorium].
Oh, I forgot, he had an overwhelming intuition and an enormous understanding of music, of course ;-).
There are not many like him...
On the whole, there are no real surprises amongst Arrau's musical choices, with the possible exception of 'Erwartung' (although he did record some Schoenberg). His wide-ranging culture is apparent although not advertised, and his modesty in choosing no recording of his own comes as a welcome contrast to some other performers that have been interviewed for this programme … In spite of silences instead of musical extracts, this is a Desert Island Discs episode to relish! Thanks for the upload.
Beyond any doubt!
He once said that you can only come to the core of music in getting rid of vanity and I think he is right.
1. Schubert’s 9th Symphony (Furtwangler)
2. Scheherazade Ravel La Flute Enchantee (Jennie Tourel)
3. Goyescas Granados Los Requiebros (Alicia de Larrocha)
4. Piano Concerto No 2 Saint-Saens (Emil Gilels)
5. Erwartung Schoenberg (Μητρόπουλος)
6. Die junge Nonne Schubert (Schwarzkopf + Fischer)
7. Sonata A major D. 959 Schubert (Schnabel)
8. String Quartet No 15 Op 132 Third Movement “Heiliger Dankgesang”Beethoven ( Koeckert Quartet)
Mitrópoulos.
@@alejandrosotomartin9720 eta instead of iota is correct?
@@jeffsmith1798 Please, don´t ask a Basque about eta XD
@@jeffsmith1798 You translated correctly into greek. Metropolis was from Fritz Lang.
@@alejandrosotomartin9720 great movie and an iPhone autocorrect too ;-)
Esto es una joya!! What a charning man
Wonderful
Indeed! And it's interesting that this very critical man already chose a "desert island record" of Alicia de Larrocha in 1960, when she was only 37 years old... that says something about his high opinion of her!
Indeed... and as a contrast, I posted an episode with Moura Lympany who chose *only* her own recordings -- but for very good reasons!
what musical pieces arrau played there? it was alive or studio samples?
thanks anyway for this treasure
Arrau's not afraid of damaging his hands; perhaps that helps explain why he's one of the only pianists who bothers to play octave glissandi.
chilenoHDU Perhaps you have problems reading or English is not your first language? Read my original comment again and get back to me.
+Jim, TWICE's pet gerbil Oh Mr. please, excuse my fellow chilean friend. He didn't get what you meant the first time he read that comment of yours and that's why he was kind of rude to you... that's for sure... Greetings from another chilean ;)
Interesting and cultured choices here. Arrau of course understood the idea of the hypothetical desert island, unlike the film director Otto Preminger who famously didn't quite get it and became very angry and upset when asked if he would like to build a hut on his 'island'.
genius
Wow
How wonderful, but how sad that people are so greedy-- we cannot hear his choices.
Very interesting; but Mr Arrau seems very austere, patrician and low on jokes.
We're listening to someone who had spent his entire life in intense self discipline and study.