Monday, 28 March 2011
Serkin
The pianist Rudolf Serkin was born on this day in 1903. He's always had a special place in my affections because it was through his recording - on a 12-inch vinyl, picked up cheap in a record shop (remember them?) - that I first came to know and love Schubert's great B-flat Sonata. Here he is in a rare bit of concert footage, bringing it to a triumphant - not to say breath-taking - close.
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Yes, it was D960 that pulled me into Schubert's orbit too Nige - the mysterious hymn-like opening began, and I was a gonner. Too young to know or care whether the performance was any good on that cold night in Dublin, I now know that it probably was, as the old boy playing it was the revered Chilean, Claudio Arrau
ReplyDeleteAh yes Mahlerman, that first movement - I really think D960's the one piano sonata I'd save if I had to chuck all the rest out of the balloon. And the Great C Major would be the one symphony...
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