Wilhelm Backhaus - Günter Wand : Schumann piano concerto 1960 LP

Here is PG's transfer of London STS 15099, a beautifully-recorded stereo LP with the music of Schumann performed by Wilhelm Backhaus. Accompanied by the Vienna PO under Guenter Wand, Backhaus performs the Piano Concerto in a dreamy way that I find captivating. This must have been one of Wand's earliest appearances on a major label. He makes the most of it; the accompaniment is gorgeous. Recorded January 1960

Transfer by PG, with his permission uploaded by http://twitter.com/otterhouse

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Wilhelm
• Backhaus
• Günter
• Guenter
• Wand
• Rober
• Schumann
• first
• piano
• concerto
• pianoconcerto
• no1
• vinyl
• 33rpm
• 78rpm
• 33
• 78
• rpm
• classical
• Wiener
• Philharmoniker
• LP
• 1960

[vstasov]

Thank you very much!

[65attila]

@uhartchristian

backahus had one of the most incredible techniques ever. The Brahms and Beethoven whcih WB was famous for are quite big concertos. He had the technique for any standard PC I know.

I have heard WB knocked for being too objective but never before for being a less than techcinal genius. In Berllin, Horowitz heard and was impressed by WB's performance of a difficult Liszt piece, and Horowitz told Backhaus so..

[uhartchristian]

Backhaus was a fantastic musician. His technique also was very good although he never did touch the big concertos like Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky. He specialised in german music. As e died already in 1969 hisname was a bit forgotten but his interpretations will continue fascinating people . I put him into my favorites together with Maria Yudina and Sofronitzky. And there are many other great pianist musicians not so well known.... far away from the well known boring "technicians"

[seancoxen]

Phenomenal! I'm simply out of breath. Apparently this was once available on CD, but Decca discontinued it. Alas....

[noise10]

Thank you Thank you Thank you for uploading this. I wish that more people appreciated this pianist's art and musical integrity in this day and age.

This is from a 'budget' lp pressing? Was it ever issued on the 'full price' label?

[GmT0Curwen]

Freaking amazing.

[etmax1]

This is a very good recording, except there is a lot of rumble audible in the quiet passages. Might I suggest running it through a 20Hz high pass filter. Thanks by the way

[850298785DEVIL]

PURE . NO ARTIFICIAL ROMANCE.

[geetarxist]

superb

[billyguns2]

Beautiful recorded sound makes such a difference in enjoying and hearing the true performance of a piece; those London/Decca sound engineers of the 1950s and 1960s were the greatest in the world. The sound they gave Ernest Ansermet's discs, especially the SCHEHERAZADE, was state of the art, for example. I've always loved Backhaus, and this performance sounds so "right" to me; many thanks for sharing it.