Alfred Brendel (born January 5, 1931) is an Austrian pianist, born in Czechoslovakia. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical pianists of the second half of the 20th century. Brendel was born in Vízmberk, Czechoslovakia, now Loučná nad Desnou Czech Republic, to a non-musical family. They moved to Zagreb when Brendel was six, and later to Graz, where they lived during World War II, towards the end of which the 14 year old Brendel was sent to Yugoslavia to dig trenches.