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!
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 !
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.
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.
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...
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!
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'.
+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 ;)
