In Tuesday’s (1/10) New York Times, Margalit Fox writes, “Alexis Weissenberg, a charismatic Bulgarian-born pianist known for his thundering aggressiveness and rational detachment at the keyboard, and for his unapologetic defense of those traits in interviews, died on Sunday in Lugano, Switzerland. He was 82. … In a career that began in the late 1940s, Mr. Weissenberg appeared as a soloist with the world’s leading orchestras, played recitals on celebrated stages and made many recordings. A naturalized French citizen, he was a Romantic specialist, most closely associated with Schumann, Chopin and perhaps especially Rachmaninoff, whose percussive pyrotechnics suited him. Mr. Weissenberg’s cool yet blazing approach divided reviewers. Where some heard impeccable technique, others heard soulless efficiency. Where some embraced the drama of his interpretations, others condemned them for aggressiveness.” After WWII, “Mr. Weissenberg moved alone to New York, where he studied at the Juilliard School with the pianist Olga Samaroff and the composer Vincent Persichetti. In 1947, at 18, he won the Leventritt Award, a prestigious international music prize. He made his New York debut the next year at Carnegie Hall, playing Chopin’s E minor concerto with the New York Philharmonic under George Szell. … Mr. Weissenberg’s recordings include the complete Beethoven concertos with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic.”
Posted January 11, 2012
