Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Wilhelm Backhaus :: Wilhelm Backhaus ~ Beethoven - The Piano Sonatas

Not Even Martha Agerich Could Afford to Miss Backhaus

BLee | HK | 09/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Martha Agerich was once asked to recount inspiring pianists in her life. The interviewer put forward the name of Gieseking. She said, "There are a lot of them and even Backhaus..." Backhaus had certainly gone out of fashion by that time. G. Sandor, the greatest pupil of Bartok, professor in piano in Budapest once said, "No modern pianists have the technique" to play like Hofmann, Rachmaninov or Backhaus..." Luganski confirmed that it's simply impossible to play in the way Rachmaninov did, however hard he tried.Backhaus' playing was close to Rachmaninov in the sense that they shared the same kind of depth, with same focus on the intensity of music that are apt to touch the the deepest part of the listeners's heart. Bartok who won the second prize in a competition after Backhaus, once attacked him of playing like a metronome. Not really. According to modern standard, Backhaus strayed too far way from the metronome.Gulda was very close to Backhaus in pianism. But Backhaus had a gentle fullness of sound with beautiful unobstrusiveness which is never tiring. There is also a greater intensity of colour, illuminating almost all the harmonics. And even though he never get losed in details, the rhythmic differentiation and the unveiling of the motif was so amazing, making the nuances so audible and the whole piece so intelligible and as such, so pleasurable. It's sheer poetry like old cogniac that are apt to make people drunk. I certainly rank him above Arrau, however great an Arrau fan I am, as I rank Arrau above Gilels and Brendel.But note that it was not a Steinway that was used and the recording is made in the 50 and 60's, however good that was. But the sound is very satisfying, and the sound and particularly the music, or the two together is simply unsurpassed."

Backhaus: a giant

G Pelloni | Cottingham, East Yorkshire United Kingdom | 08/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have noticed the resurgence (or should I say the emergence) of Wilhelm Backhaus in the USA and Canada. On continental Europe there has never been any doubt that Backhaus, with Schnabel, Fischer and Arrau (and personally I would add Horszowsky and Petri), has been one of the greatest interpreters of the Classics (Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart). It is also been recognized that he had been a marvellous interpreter of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Chopin. In the UK Backhaus is still very often (fortunately not always) dismissed as having a too direct and brusque stile, occasionally characterised by a gruff good humour but lacking in sensitivity and depth. What a bunch of utter nonsense!!! Just listen to his interpretation of Beethoven's sonata no.29 in B flat major, op.106 ( so called Hammerklavier). The way in which he can hold together the whole of the sonata, subtly revealing its internal unities and so letting this gigantic work develop as a living organism, is magisterial. The way in which the impetus generated by the fortissimo opening chord in B flat melts in the following changes in harmony, is achieved via a magestirial use of rubato. A use of rubato which reflects a deep understanding of the harmonic structure of the text. It is not sheer emotion which leads to the application of rubato, but the analysis of sound realationships which leads to use rubato as a tool to reveal sentiments: not flamboyant emotionalism but deep search of emotions. Please listen to the sound generated in the adagio sostenuto whith its difficult variations in sonority. The implicit indication of Beethoven.is magestirially fulfilled as only a restricted group of great masters (Arrau, Petri, Richter, Schnabel) can do. Beauty of sound in itself is meaningless, but beauty of sound to achieve musical meaning is a rare gift.
Please go back to Backhaus and listen carefully: Backhaus is a giant."

A Great Tradition Lost

BLee | HK | 03/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Note the depth he digged into these sonatas, or the technique necessary to bring out his interpretation: the pity is, this great tradition of pianism is lost nowadays. To be exact, he was an avantgarde in his interpretation much more modern than his peers like Rubinstein, Horszowski, or even Petri. And his edge was pushed further by Rodolf Serkin in one way, and by Horowitz and Gulda in another. And it's really a matter of taste whether one likes the latters or not. But listen to Backhaus playing these sonatas is just like reading the poems by Yeats-- one knows he is singing and dancing and swinging (as opposed to talking or walking). It's a taste of sweet wine!After Serkin, we have Gilels (as recorded in DG which is not a full set, just almost): there is plenty of justifications to call that playing metronome. Whereas some prefer Brendel. But where is the poetry or the drama? It's just an essay at most... Also note that with this box set, we have excellent stereo sound mostly of the 60s by Decca. He will surely expand your horizon if you haven't really heard him."