Recognised as one of the greatest pianists in the world, Alfred Brendel is famous for his interpretations of the music of Beethoven. Mozart, Schubert and Liszt. Renowned for his scholarly attention to the musical text, he is often described as an ' intellectual pianist '. He qualifies this by saying that ' feeling must remain the alpha and omega of a musician'. At a less rarefied level, Brendel is known among his colleagues as a man who relishes a good joke.