Alfred Brendal bows out with final concert in Vienna

One of the greatest concert pianists of the last century, Alfred Brendel, took his final bow on Thursday night amid thunderous applause and standing ovations. Accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic, the 77-year-old performed Mozart's ninth piano concerto as his farewell piece at Vienna's Musikverein. The crowd wouldn't let him leave until he had played two encores.

In addition to a concert career spanning 60 years, Brendel has
recorded the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven, twice, and the 27 piano
concertos of Mozart.

Born in what is now the Czech Republic, he had his first piano lessons at the age of six but because his family were on the move in Austria and Yugoslavia he had little formal training. "Being self-taught, I learnt to distrust anything I hadn't figured out myself," he writes on his website. "A teacher can be too influential."

Long settled in London, he is famous for his unadorned and spare approach to playing. He chose the Mozart piano concerto to go out on because it is, in his view, "one of the greatest wonders of the world".

Brendel is also a poet and plans to continue giving poetry readings and lecturing on music. But there will be no more concert performances. Sir Charles Mackerras, who conducted the farewell concert, wrote in the programme: "After so many years of being at the top of his profession, it is hard to imagine musical life without Alfred's unique presence."