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Catalogue | Piano
L. v. Beethoven: Piano Sonatas | Wilhelm Backhaus
This live recording of a concert given by Backhaus during the last year of his life in Berlin features four great Beethoven piano sonatas and demonstrates the merits of his clear and – in the most positive sense of the word – classicist interpretational approach. 
Ludwig van Beethoven
"Nie Forcierung im Emotionalen, immer der richtige „Vollzug“ aus einem hörbar frisch gebliebenen Formgefühl heraus – es genügt, einige der Beethoven-Geheimnisse zu entschlüsseln." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
L. v. Beethoven: Piano Sonatas | Wilhelm Backhaus
- Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 "Pastorale"
- I. Allegro (09:01)
- II. Andante (06:05)
- III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace (02:10)
- IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo (04:45)
- Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31,3
- I. Allegro (08:08)
- II. Scherzo. Allegretto vivace (05:00)
- III. Menuetto. Moderato e grazioso (03:50)
- IV. Presto con fuoco (05:02)
- Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 "Waldstein"
- I. Allegro con brio (11:10)
- II. Introduzione. Adagio molto (03:01)
- III. Rondo. Allegretto moderato (10:03)
- Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
- I. Vivace, ma non troppo (03:00)
- II. Prestissimo (02:19)
- III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo (12:20)
Even as a young man Wilhelm Backhaus was the epitome of a pianist who focused on performing a work as objectively as possible. With this aim, he proved a strong influence on the succeeding generation of pianists and constituted the opposite pole to Wilhelm Kempff’s playing. Backhaus’ domain was the classic-romantic repertoire from Bach to Brahms with Beethoven at the centre. During his long career on the concert platform, which lasted for over seventy years, Backhaus intensively explored the piano sonatas of Beethoven with remarkable technical reliability and a profound mastery of musical substance. This live recording of a concert – featuring four major sonatas, including the Waldstein Sonata, Op. 53, and the Sonata in E major, op. 109 – given in Berlin during the last year of Backhaus’ life (1969), once more demonstrates the merits of Backhaus’ clear and, in the most positive sense of the word, classicist interpretational approach: like almost no other pianist, he knew how to illustrate the content and architecture of this music without sacrificing the detail – but also without losing himself within it.
You can find a Producer’s Comment from producer Ludger Böckenhoff about this CD on our home page.
The production is part of our series „Legendary Recordings“ and bears the quality feature „1st Master Release“. This term stands for the excellent quality of archival productions at audite. For all historical publications at audite are based, without exception, on the original tapes from broadcasting archives. In general these are the original analogue tapes, which attain an astonishingly high quality, even measured by today‘s standards, with their tape speed of up to 76 cm/sec. The remastering – professionally competent and sensitively applied – also uncovers previously hidden details of the interpretations. Thus, a sound of superior quality results. CD publications based on private recordings from broadcasts or old shellac records cannot be compared with these.
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American Record Guide
| January 11, 2010
This was recorded in concert in Berlin in April 1969, about 10 weeks before the pianist died (July 5). The broadcast tapes give us sound that is less...
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Audiophile Audition
| Gary Lemco | November 8, 2010
Backhaus stands as among the most consistently satisfying of all Beethoven interpreters in the epic mold. - From the Philharmonie, Berlin 18 April...
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Classica – le meilleur de la musique classique & de la hi-fi
| Jacques Bonnaure | January 10, 2010
Une beauté intemporelle
Au soir de sa vie. Wilhelm Backhaus laisse un témoignage conciliant urgence, pureté et d’une intense expressivité.
Le 18 avril 1969, Wilhelm Backhaus donnait à Berlin ce récital de sonates de Beethoven, qui devait être le dernier, puisqu'il mourut le 5 juillet... -
Columns - Sound and Music - Novità discografiche
| - | January 11, 2010
Fin dai primi anni della sua lunga carriera Wilhelm Backhaus si accostò a ogni opera con la massima obiettività possibile. Sotto questo aspetto...
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Diapason
| Jean-Charles Hoffelé | January 12, 2010
Les studios d'enregistrement, que Wilhelm Backhaus a beaucoup fréquentés, pouvaient ternir sa sonorité, brider son imagination pourtant puissante.... -
Diverdi Magazin
| Roberto Andrade | January 3, 2011
Beethoven de referencia
Audite rescata, con maravilloso sonido, un recital de 1969 del gran Wilhelm Backhaus
Hace un año, señalaba en estas páginas a Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) como uno de los grandes pianistas del siglo XX. Su dilatadísima carrera... -
Fanfare
| Paul Orgel | January 1, 2011
Passagework is a little smudged here and there, and sometimes, Backhaus bangs or rushes slightly, but considering that this recording of one of his...
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Fono Forum
| Ingo Harden | November 17, 2010
Alt und gut
Die Erstveröffentlichung des Beethoven-Abends, den der 85-jährige Wilhelm Backhaus im Mai 1969 in Berlin gab, ist einer der wertvollen Funde auf dem... -
klassik.com
| Kai Schabram | October 19, 2010
'Metronom' oder Mediator?
Wilhelm Backhaus’ Ruf als Interpret von Weltrang gründet in erster... -
La Musica
| January 8, 2010
Beethoven
koreanische Rezension siehe PDF... -
Märkische Oderzeitung
| Peter Philipps | September 15, 2010
Fast akademischer Klang
Wir haben Lang Lang am Klavier – und wenn es etwas ungewöhnlicher sein soll, auch den Chinesen Liu Wie, der ohne Arme alle anderen Pianisten in... -
Morgenpost am Sonntag
| December 9, 2010
Beethovens Klaviersonaten bilden einen eigenen Kosmos in der klassischen Musik. Der Österreicher Rudolf Buchbinder, ein Spezialist für den Zyklus,...
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ouverture Das Klassik-Blog
| October 17, 2010
Wilhelm Backhaus (1884 bis 1969) debütierte als Zwölfjähriger im Leipziger Gewandhaus. Sein letztes Konzert gab er mit 85 Jahren, wenige Tage vor...
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Piano News
| Carsten Dürer | January 9, 2010
Richter, Gulda, Backhaus, Fischer etc.
Die Flut an historischen Einspielungen, die wieder oder erstmals auf den Markt strömen, wird immer unübersichtlicher. Aber auch immer spannender,... -
Süddeutsche Zeitung
| Wolfgang Schreiber | August 9, 2010
Jung und Alt
Wilhelm Backhaus verabschiedete sich von Berlin mit Beethoven
Es kann spannend und sogar von Nutzen sein, im Leben wie in der Kunst, den... -
Universitas
| Adelbert Reif | January 11, 2010
Kaum mehr überblickbar ist die Anzahl junger Pianisten und Violinisten, die alljährlich, gefördert durch diverse einschlägige Stiftungen und...
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Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
| Hajo Berns | August 26, 2010
Wiederhören mit Wilhelm Backhaus und Beethoven
„Phänomenal für sein Alter“, hieß es, als Wilhelm Backhaus als... -
WETA fm
| Jens F. Laurson | November 17, 2010
Bits of Beethoven (Sonatas): Steven Osborne, Wilhelm Backhaus, Solomon
Recordings of new Beethoven Piano Sonata elicit conflicting emotions. If it’s not a new complete cycle (announced or released), no one raises an... -
Wochen-Kurier
| Michael Karrass | April 8, 2010
Wilhelm Backhaus galt bereits in frühen Jahren als Inbegriff eines Pianisten, der auf die möglichst objektivierende Darstellung des Werkgehalts...
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www.musicweb-international.com
| Jonathan Woolf | January 11, 2010
The last testament of this eminent musician
There is something indomitable, indeed magnificent, about Backhaus’s recital at the Philharmonie in April 1969, given shortly before his death in... -
www.ResMusica.com
| Patrick Georges Montaigu | November 16, 2010
Le dernier Backhaus reste une référence
Ce récital Wilhelm Backhaus consacré à des sonates de Beethoven a été enregistré en avril 1969, quelques semaines à peine avant la disparition...
L. v. Beethoven: Piano Sonatas | Wilhelm Backhaus (audite 23.420)
| article number: | 23.420 |
| EAN barcode: | 4022143234209 |
| price group: | BCA |
| release date: | 16. July 2010 |
| total time: | 85 min. |
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