Mozart - Wilhelm Backhaus: The Virtuoso - Import 2 CD

Credits:

Mozart

Description:

Backhaus played Rachmaninoff and Moszkowski! Wilhelm Backhaus is the king of pure German pianism, the "lion king of the keyboard" who reproduced Beethoven and Brahms with unwavering construction and depth. His recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas are often regarded as the best recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas even today. This is a very welcome collection of Backhaus's earliest recordings, from September 1908, as well as other rare recordings. Surprisingly, Backhaus preferred to play non-German Austrian works in his youth, and was also good at technical salon music. In fact, he also left behind some spectacular transcriptions of Godowsky and Rachmaninoff, and it is an unexpected pleasure to be able to hear them in his own performances.Don Giovanni's Serenade is a classic sung with mandolin accompaniment, and Backhaus's arrangement dazzles with a flood of ornamental notes. The arrangement of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, 2nd movement Romanza, which Backhaus later never played, is also elaborate. There is also an arrangement of this piece by Balakirev, but compared to Balakirev's version, which is faithful to the original (but incredibly difficult), Backhaus' arrangement adds more notes, making it more brilliant and difficult. It is a miracle to be able to taste Backhaus' Chopin concerto, even though this is a clean masterpiece and a piano roll. The virtuoso performance of Rachmaninoff's arrangement of Kreisler and Dohnányi's arrangement of Dreib's ballet music will surely give you a different impression of Backhaus. The acoustic recording is also valuable. Chopin's "Waltz of the Little Dogs" has a finger-snapping introduction, and the performance is surprisingly light, fast, and individualistic.Rachmaninoff's famous Prelude, which was his latest work at the time of 1908, is also intriguing with its completely different approach from Rachmaninoff's own compositions, and the backhouse performances of works such as Albeniz's difficult "Turiana" from "Iberia" and Moszkowski's superbly effective "Spanish Fantasy" can be enjoyed by Piano fans rejoice. Backhaus, who was portrayed in Riyoko Ikeda's masterpiece "Orpheus' Window," shows us that he was a master of sharp and fearsome technique. The scale of his performance of Moszkowski's "Spanish Fantasy" is astonishing, but it is a different work from Josef Hoffmann's unrestrained, freewheeling, magical performance, with its characterful and unrestrained neatness. This is a precious record of German pianism at its finest. King International

Tracklisting:

1.Kronungskonzert Nr. 26 D-Dur KV 537: 1. Allegro
2.Kronungskonzert Nr. 26 D-Dur KV 537: 2. Larghetto
3.Kronungskonzert Nr. 26 D-Dur KV 537: 3. Allegretto
4.Don Giovanni KV 527: Act 2. Feins Liebchen, komm ans Fenster
5.Lieder op. 17, Nr. 2
6.Olaf's Tanz op. 33, Nr. 2
7.Konzert fur Klavier und Orchester Nr. 1 e-moll op. 11: 2. Satz - Romanze
8.Liebesleid
9.Naila: Walzer
10.Etudes de concert S. 144 Nr. 2 (La Leggierezza f-moll)
11.Paraphrase uber Hochzeitsmarsch und Elfenreigen
12.Variationen op. 35 "Uber ein Thema von N. Paganini": Heft 1: Nr. 1, 3, 7, 12, 13. Heft 2: Nr. 3, 4,
13.Walzer Des-dur op. 64/1 "Minutenwalzer"
14.Variationen uber ein eigenes Thema op. 21/1: [Excerpt]
15.Paganini-Variationen op. 35: [Excerpt]