Wilhelm Backhaus

Re-shelving a CD of music by Beethoven, I noticed its shelf neighbour: a double CD of Wilhelm Backhaus playing Beethoven piano sonatas (and the third piano concerto). A happy find; I had completely forgotten this CD of recordings 1950-51.

I am not a big fan of Beethoven's piano sonatas, but I am a big fan of Backhaus. Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) was already famous at the beginning of the 20^th century, and he lived and played until a ripe old age. Transfers of his piano-roll recordings are still around. His playing is no-nonsense German classical (a good antidote to pianists such as Alfred Brendel). In recording at least, he confined himself pretty much to the German classics of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, seldom venturing outside this field. He is rarely now included among lists of great pianists of the past, though so much the worse for lists that too often reflect commercial fame rather than genuine talent and solid values. Unlike his contemporaries, Artur Schnabel and Edwin Fischer, Backhaus was a formidable virtuoso at the keyboard. His pianism reveals a lovely touch, and I enjoyed the quality and variety of sound he gets from his pianos (viz the start of the Opus 26 piano sonata's andante con variazioni.) Simple, and lovely!