Mature, Rock-Solid Beethoven
George Perkins | 06/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Backhaus rocks (but he isn't "granitic")
J. Gillon | North Carolina | 05/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"[Edit July 2010: I humbly disavow any comments below which might be construed as less than complimentary toward Friedrich Gulda. My appreciation for the remarkable clarity he brings to the Beethoven sonatas has increased markedly in the three years since I wrote this review of Backhaus's performances. And Gulda is most definitely NOT the anti-Backhaus. What was I thinking??? Both of these pianists are masters.]
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!
"
Buy it if you love Beethoven and great piano playing
John Ruggeri | Philadelphia, PA USA | 08/09/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1