Customer Reviews

Wilhelm Backhaus Plays Beethoven, Mozart and Bach

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Modern Backhaus recordings are not as plentiful as one might think considering his longevity and productivity as a performer. This disc features works of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven performed live in Salzburg in the summer of 1966. It is fun to hear the venerable pianist (82 at the time) in recital, playing with palpable enthusiasm and energy. Audience concentration is discernible, too: at the close of Beethoven's Opus 111, for example, listeners sit in silent awe until the Bosendorfer completely ceases to hum...it seems like an eternity!

Listening to this disc really is like sitting in the concert hall's best seats. The sound (mono, though it's not noticeable) is very good. Audience noise is present but not distracting. Even the program notes by critic Gottfried Kraus are interesting.

This little bit of music history is deeply satisfying and highly recommended!

Backhaus' Well-tempered clavier here sounds almost like a mixture of a harpsichord and an organ, albeit sounds so natural. His Mozart 281 and 331, like most great artists in their last years, are sublime. It is so expressive, so colourful and dramatic. Mozart was obviously very talkative, albeit there is not one single note too many, as Backhaus's lyricism made it so clear. Furthermore, contrary to the general conception, it abounds with rubato which is quite definitive and decisive. And it is only after hearing him that we will notice how much we have missed by taking Geiseking's rendition. And his Beethoven, particularly his Appasionata, is even more lively and intriquing than his studio recording by Decca a few years back.

But this is a 1966 live but mono recording with some background noise. Furthermore, people who are accustomed to the Steinway sound may not find the piano sound very much to their taste. And in any event, the sound as a 1966 recording is not of particular good quality. But this reperoire is interesting covering these three greatest German composers and moreover it is a very good place to start learning more about the great master of the keyboard even though this is most untypical of Bachaus'usual style.