My mindless mistake left Arrau uncovered. Yes, Photon46 is right. Arraus achievement in balancing virtuosity, introspective and philosophical pianism of his unlimited repertoire is purely unbelievable.
Every time my 12-year-old daughter is puzzled by various interpretations of the pieces she is learning, my suggestion to her is always referring to Arraus reading first.
Helplessly I can not speak of Arrau without mentioning The Lion of Keyboard Wilhelm Backhaus. The pianist even defeated Bartok in one prestigious piano competition in 1905. The piano playing of Backhaus and Arrau always reminds me objective interpretation. Another thing I admire Backhaus is that he was exempted from the attack of Steinway piano. He prefers the pianos from Bosendorfer or Bechstein. By listening to the simple warm-up notes of his last recital on Bechstein piano, you would be amazed by the rounded and majestic tone released from his finger tips. Another example validates Furtwanglers remark on music performance - Tone always comes first; before anything else tempo, rhythm, phrasing and interpretation.
New generation pianists Paul Lewis, Till Fellner, Hélène Grimaud and Liref Ove Andsnes are showing us the promising future of classical piano performance. Lets keep our ears open.
Happy Listening.
Otto
