In 1999, Alfred Brendel -- a supreme master of the classical piano -- published a collection of poetry called One Finger Too Many.  In this book of brief verses, Brendel shows off his quiet wit, and sneaky sense of humor.  One of the poems, "The Coughers of Cologne" -- published on his website -- pokes gentle fun at audience members who cough "distinctly during expressive silences."

Thankfully, the coughers were few and far between when the 77-year-old piano maestro played his final concert at Carnegie Hall on February 20.  Brendel is retiring from the concert stage at the end of 2008, after 60 years in the business.  According to his publicist, he wanted to stop performing while "still at the peak of his powers."  And so, for the coughers and clappers of New York, this was a treasured last chance to see the great pianist in recital.

In his white tie and tails, the professorial Brendel started his final programme with such casual fluency, the audience had barely settled.  He zeroed in on pieces by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and his beloved Schubert, playing the composer's last, great sonata in B flat major, D960. He rendered the piece with such simple tenderness, without any grandstanding or unnecessary pathos, that Carnegie Hall's grand space was converted into an intimate salon. The audience was listening, with nary a cough.

Brendel will continue his tour in the U.S. and Europe this year.  He will give his final concert in Vienna on December 18, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat K271, nicknamed the "jeunehomme," written by Mozart at the age of 21.  Maybe Brendel chose the piece because he considers it Mozart's first great masterpiece, one of the wonders of the world.  But maybe he's also hinting at something else, that in the end it's music that trumps mortality. --DAMIAN FOWLER

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