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| | Wilhelm Backhaus: Decca Beethoven Sonatas | | | Music Artist : | | Beethoven | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Decca Import | | Release Date : | | 2006-01-09 | | Store Price : | | $52.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $151.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Piano Sonata Op.2 No.1-3
2. Piano Sonata Op.10 No.1
3. Piano Sonata Op.10 No.2 & 3
4. Piano Sonata Op.13 'Pathetique'
5. Piano Sonata Op.14 No.1 & 2
6. Piano Sonata Op.22
7. Piano Sonata Op.26
8. Piano Sonata Op.27 No.1 & 2 'Moonlight'
9. Piano Sonata Op.28 'Pastorale'
10. Piano Sonata Op.31 No.1
11. Piano Sonata Op.31 No.2 'Tempest'
12. Piano Sonata Op.31 No.3
13. Piano Sonata Op.49 No.1 & 2
14. Piano Sonata Op.53 'Waldstein'
15. Piano Sonata Op.54
16. Piano Sonata Op.57 'Appassionata'
17. Piano Sonata Op.78
18. Piano Sonata Op.79
19. Piano Sonata Op.81a 'Les Adieux'
20. Piano Sonata Op.90
21. Piano Sonata Op.101
22. Piano Sonata Op.106 'Hammerklavier'
23. Piano Sonata Op.109-111
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Amazon's Backhaus collection is Pathetic!!
Submitted on: 2007-11-12 |
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As a proud vinyl record collector, I find the Backhaus selection here on Amazon very lean indeed. I think it outrageous that his earlier UK Decca/London mono cycle is nowhere to be found. Some of the very first recording from 50-51 are a bit rough, but from 52 on the recordings are beautiful. PLEASE don't tell me that the mono/stereo debate is still going on in the 21st century! I, for one, have his complete stereo and mono cycles on vinyl and I think I'm the better for it. I've been hunting about for his LVB PCs with Krauss in glorious mono........I'm not going to kind it am I????? It's a pity.
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 An Unmissable Beethoven Cycle
Submitted on: 2007-09-27 |
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| If you are reading this review, chances are you are a classical record collector who owns multiple versions of all the Beethoven sonatas, perhaps multiple complete cycles by the likes of Schnabel, Kempff, Ashkenazy, et. al. You are also probably wondering whether you should invest in another Beethoven cycle by a pianist whose name and legacy may be less familiar to you. The answer is: absolutely! Not even Schnabel probed more deeply behind the notes than Wilhelm Backhaus, and few have possessed the technical endurance at an advanced age to conquer the rugged peaks of the late sonatas (all but the *Hammerklavier* were taken down when Backhaus was in his seventies). Backhaus may be gruff sometimes; the earlier sonatas could do with more refinement, elegance and humor. He also has a tendency to urge the music along at relatively swift tempos, which will not please those who prefer a leisurely ramble through Beethoven. But whatever one's misgivings about a particular point of interpretation, the integrity, inwardness, and ruggedness of Backhaus's approach will win you over time and again. Here is a pianist whose absolute mastery of technique and idiom affords him the space to follow his inner promptings without the slightest playing to the gallery. The listener is invited to follow him along his way--or not; he aims mostly to challenge, and never merely to entertain. The recordings sound newly minted in this affordable "bargain box." If you do not know Backhaus's interpretations, you are strongly encouraged to purchase this set. |
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Buy it if you love Beethoven and great piano playing
Submitted on: 2007-08-09 |
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Backhaus can do anything technically, has a gorgeous tone and is steeped in this musical tradition. Whether the dark Opus 111 or the bouyant Op 31/1
Backahus can do it all.
If possible, supplement these stereo records with the earlier monoral ones.
I bought the mono on Ebay from a seller named "sheartii" a professional and
personable seller who can get Japanese imports not available in the US. |
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Backhaus rocks (but he isn't "granitic")
Submitted on: 2007-05-12 |
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I have struggled mightily to find words to describe Backhaus's interpretation of the Beethoven PIano Sonatas. The effort has not been helped by reading various online reviews that curiously describe Backhaus's playing as "calm", "restrained", "monochromatic", even "bland". Some cite his "dry directness" and "lack of emotion". As poorly as these words and phrases describe Backhaus, the one descriptor that annoys me the most is "granitic". Reviewers and critics who use this term may be referring to a sort of authority that is indeed present, but "granitic" to me implies a sort of inflexibility, lifelessness, and weightiness that simply isn't borne out by the experience of listening. So, while I am unprepared to say what Backhaus's playing is, I am happy to say that it is not "dry" or "restrained" or "calm" or "monochromatic".
And it is certainly not "granitic".
Just compare the 4th movement of the Pastoral sonata as played by Backhaus with any number of other recordings. Backhaus's treatment is playful and good-humored whereas most interpretations come off as far more structured, classical, or even (as in the case of Ashkenazy) plodding. It is (here and elsewhere) as if Backhaus has been influenced by Jazz (so natural as to seem improvised) or by Post-Impressionism (reminiscent of Van Gogh's Starry Night, Backhaus paints with broad strokes and great swirls of color and movement, not abstract but certainly not literal). Backhaus doesn't just play the notes, he unfurls a great canvas full of color, movement, and vibrancy, leaving the listener with an indelible impression of each piece in its entirety. Reviewers too often describe this as an understanding of the "architecture" of the sonatas, which to me again invokes images of blueprints and sliderules (more appropriate to Gulda), not the color and fluidity that I hear and feel in these performances.
Backhaus can be aggressive (witness the third movement of the Tempest) without resorting to savagery, and he can be gracefully lyrical (listen to his Andante from the Cuckoo Sonata). His play seems to me generally "masculine" -- but then so does Annie Fischer's. One senses in Backhaus's playing a love for this body of work that could easily cause Backhaus to stray into subjectivity and bombast, but a simultaneous respect for Beethoven's ideas that yields an always exciting (and occasionally mind-blowing) dynamic tension.
Simply put, these performances seem completely natural, never punctilious or deliberate or even careful. They are full of the confidence that comes only with experience. They just sound right.
Remember, these 1960's performances are the work of a man who was born in 1884 and who made his first recording in 1907. Backhaus was Schnabel's contemporary, born just two years after the legendary pianist but surviving him by eighteen years -- a period that happily intersects with the advent of high fidelity stereo. We are fortunate that Backhaus lived and performed long enough to re-record all but one of the sonatas (the Hammerklavier) with the new technology, so what we have in this set is a serendipitous hi-fi glimpse of a prolific performer with 19th century roots and a ton of 20th century experience. Despite our good fortune, Backhaus has remained relatively obscure compared to Schnabel, though his interpretations are (to my ear, at least) at least as worthy of our attention and praise. In fact, when Backhaus died in 1969, Time Magazine referred to him as "the century's foremost interpreter of Beethoven."
The sound is quite good throughout the set, slightly dated only on the mono Hammerklavier. The Bosendorfer adds depth and breadth to Backhaus's characteristic richness of tone.
I own or have owned complete cycles by Annie Fischer, Gulda (who seems to me the anti-Backhaus), Kempff, and Schnabel, and numerous individual performances from Ashkenazy, Pollini, Gieseking, Rubinstein, and Solomon. If one accepts that record labels do not wantonly immortalize the playing of hacks, then each of these players must have something worthwhile to say. Annie Fischer's wonderful set is currently my second choice, with Kempff a close third, and I will continue to explore other interpretactions. But I am reasonably confident that no one will ever displace Backhaus as the premier interpreter in my collection, and the most consistently satisfying.
Backhaus rocks!
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Mature, Rock-Solid Beethoven
Submitted on: 2006-06-29 |
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From the first sonata to the last, Backhaus plays these works with all the seriousness and intensity they demand. His tone, not usually mentioned, is incredible. His playing may lack charm and lightheartedness, but after all, this is Beethoven, not Mozart. He has a nice classical approach to the early works, though it should be mentioned that he observes very few of the repeats. The middle works are even better, he presents such favorites as the Pathetique and Waldstein works in such a compelling way that its like hearing them for the first time. In the late works he is a bit less at home, but in my opinion much can still be enjoyed in his performances of them. Backhaus recorded this cycle twice and played them throughout his life. In fact, some of the performances were recorded just a few months before he died, though you would never know it. Another interseting fact is that he was actually EMI's second pick to be the first pianist to record the 32 sonatas, Schnabel of course was the first. This shows that thirty years before he recorded this cycle, EMI recognized his greatness. Imagine then, what 30 years of performing and recording these works did for him. They are incredible recordings that show a master who understands these works like so very few do.
This is a reissue of his stereo set, which has far better sound than his very similar mono cycle, currently unavailable in the U.S.. The liner notes are illuminating as well. This set is worth twice the asking price and will surely not be around forever, so do yourself a favor and get this cycle. You won't be disappointed. |
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