Between Dread and Laughter – Alfred Brendel Goes to the Cinema

… and to be precise to the Arsenal in June and we're very pleased to welcome the great pianist! As one of the most significant pianists of his generation Alfred Brendel has, during a career that has spanned six decades, played with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, recording countless records and CDs and receiving numerous awards. More recently, he has also intensified his literary activities and public engagements, holding lectures, readings and masterclasses, and also curating film programs! Exposure to cinema from an early age was the foundation stone for his ongoing interest in international cinematography, which is now reflected in a program comprising 14 films. In "Between Dread and Laughter", Brendel combines his knowledge and passion for film with his interest in humor and the grotesque, presenting key works of European and American cinema from the 1920s to the 70s. He wrote as follows about his selection: "The films gathered together in this series function outside of bourgeois codes, and the American dream invented by Hollywood; far from, or in opposition to, illusions and ideologies. They are subversive because they question convention. They show that the world is absurd and they find this absurdity comical. They do not want to portray the world as it could or should be, but instead – at least that’s how it seems to me – as it is." Alfred Brendel will briefly introduce all the films and talk in more detail at the beginning and end of the program. There will be an opportunity to talk to him when the documentary ALFRED BRENDEL: MAN AND MASK (UK 2000) is screened and after the program's last film CITY LIGHTS (USA 1931).