Search - Beethoven, Backhaus, Knappertsbusch :: Piano Concerto 5

Excellent pianist, but terrible conducting

Derek Lee | St. Paul, MN USA | 06/25/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As always, Backhaus is brilliant; his style is the epitomy of crystal clarity, and his technique is incredibly sharp despite his advancing age in this recording. However for me the recording of the concerto, especially the first movement, was simply ruined by the awful conducting; as the amazon.com reviewer correctly pointed out the opening tutti is very sloppy, and all throughout the first movement Hans seems to pretend as if the pianist does not exist. In fact, by the end of the movement the orchestra is almost a quarter note (!) behind the piano; Backhaus almost has to stop in order for the orchestra to catch up. Fortunately, in the second and third movements Hans does a much better job, and Backhaus is at his brilliant best in his highly original interpretation of the third movement, which nowadays might be criticized for being 'overly romantic'; however, I love it just the way it is. Hans does a fine job on the symphony, it seems almost like he wants to make up for the terrible job he did on the concerto. Overall though, if you want to hear Backhaus near his peak, and don't mind tolerating the conducting, this recording might be an interesting addition to your library."