Customer Reviews

Piano Concerto 2 / Piano Concerto 27

5 star:		(6)
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I'm afraid not even Gilels, not to mention Rubinstein, is quite on the same level with Backhaus.

It's not just the profound understanding of music as could be seen from his playing, even from the technical point of view, few pianists, present or past, have attained the sort of precision and clarity plus flexibility and lyricism as Backhaus did-- few except Busoni, Hofmann, Rachmaninoff, Moriz Rosenthal, Friedman, Simon Barere (the latter quite a category of his own) and a handful more. "Lyrical fantasy" is too much an over-simplication of his greatness.

I recommend readers to look for everything Backhaus played with all my heart. As to Gilels, he had handpicked a disciple more well-known in Russia than elsewhere: Sokolov. But I find another Russian pianist Merzhanov more interesting and more akin to him, the latter being the pupil of Feinberg though.

This disc contains 2 concertos in the same key (B flat major) by Mozart and Brahms, performed by Wilhelm Backhaus on piano, with Karl Böhm conducting Wiener Philharmonker. The performance of Mozart's B flat concerto might not be everybody's favorite; it is an earnest and sincere performance nonetheless. The real treasure of this disc, in my opinion, is the Brahms B flat concerto.

Allow me to make a bold and personal statement: I have never heard any Brahms concerto performance (live or on record) which comes close to this recording in its grace and charm, and above all its understated yet overwhelming emotional power. Both the piano and orchestra playing are absolutely marvelous. However, what makes this recording so special was that some "miracle" seemed to have happened during the recording session: The piano and orchestra sounds are completely meshed with each other, and the music making seemed to come from a "whole". The excellent sound engineering and masterful transfer all add to the whole experience. This is a performance I worn out 2 audio cassettes (in grade school) before getting a CD. -- There is no way I can describe the "experience" in words. You have to experience it yourself!

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Backhaus performed in seventy seasons, and established himself as one of the greatest German pianists. However, English speaking countries (notably U.S. and U.K.) have curiously not warmed up to him. He met with Brahms and heard him conduct both his piano concertos with d'Albert (Backhaus's teacher) as soloist. This performance is not Gardiner's "revolutionary Brahms". It is, on the other hand, Teutonic tradition at its finest. Bachkaus would die 2 years after this recording was made. This recording, together with some of his Beethoven recordings, is a testament of his pianism.

By the way, this has a sister version Brahms, Mozart: Piano Concertos / Backhaus, Böhm, but they are both discontinued. Grab either one of them while they are still available.

My highest recommendation.

Backhaus, at 83 layed down his last version of the Brahms 2nd concerto. It ranks as possibly one of the greatest versions recorded... Inspired though Gilels is, he hits a number of wrong notes in his performance. Even though, Gilels turns in a great performance, but here you have Backhaus in an even greater recording, without the wrong notes! Not to mention Bohm's outstanding conducting lends Brahms a strong singing line and the same time, peaceful quiet moments, especially in the 3rd movement. The Mozart, recorded earlier, is played with the light, but never lacking in sweetness phrasing that Bohm and Backhaus give. A great cd.

I agree that this is a wonderful CD; the 2 grand old men were in fine form when they recorded the Brahms. I also concur that the Richter-Haaser/Karajan performance of the Brahms is one of the best ever, but I'm almost certain it was in stereo. I don't have access to my LPs just now, but I can visualize the gold-embossed STEREO banner across the top of the jacket of the Angel red label release. Further, it was issued on one of EMI's cheap CD series within the last few years. Good listening!

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I was delighted to find both Brahms' 2nd and Mozart's 27th, two of my favorites, on the same CD by such a great pianist as Backhaus. I agree with the other reviewers that the Backhaus performance is even better technically than Gilels. When you are into the top 3% of anything, further "improvements" are typically difficult to come by and often just a matter of personal choice and opinion. In my opinion the best performance of Brahm's 2nd ever recorded was done back in the monaural days by Richter-Haaser and von Karajan, but these vinyl early high fidelity disks are now getting difficult to find in decent condition. Richter-Haaser's notes were more lilting in the light hearted places and fairly explosive in the more forceful passages than are those of either Backhaus or Gilels. And Richter-Haaser was in absolutely perfect synchrony with the orchestra, superbly directed by von Karajan.

Perhaps it is more a matter of the artist's interpretation of what the composer intended rather than simple mechanical adherence to the score. I feel that if you can't find a vinyl copy of the Richter-Haaser/Karajan recording, this is the best alternative, and hands down the best in stereo.

At 83, Backhaus recorded the Brahms 2nd Concerto with such aplomb amid lovely orchestral backing by Bohm.The Deccas sound engineers did an incredible job for a remarkable performance. The Mozart goes back 12 years and it too has a majesty to rival Rubinstein and Gilels. This CD should please most Brahms fans. I found it almost perfect in its lightness and tempo. Overall I rate it second only to Gilels classic 1972 recording with Jochum as conductor.