Wilhelm Backhaus - The complete acoustic and selected early electric recordings

Wilhelm Backhaus - The complete acoustic and selected early electric recordings

APR 7317 (APR, CD, 3 discs)

ADD
Mono
COMPILATION (3 November 2023)

Playing time: 75'26"/71'23"/76'54" - TT 223'43"
Tracks: 27 + 22 + 15
Booklet pages: 12
℗ 2023 Appian Publications and Recordings
© 2023 Appian Publications and Recordings
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Country of manufacture: United Kingdom
Sent to a reviewer on 7 December 2023


Listen: Grieg: Adagio (Piano Concerto) (CD3 track 16, 1:40-2:31)

Wilhelm Backhaus, piano
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (CD1 tracks 18-19)
Landon Ronald, conductor (CD1 tracks 18-19)
New Symphony Orchestra (CD3 tracks 15-17)
John Barbirolli, conductor (CD3 tracks 15-17)

CD1 - Gramophone Company, London UK - acoustic recordings

Sergei Rachmaninov:

1 Prelude in C sharp minor, Op 3 No 2

Franz Liszt:

2 Liebesträume No 3, S 541/3

Edvard Grieg:

3 Norwegian Bridal Procession, Op 19 No 2

Paganini / Liszt:

4 La campanella - Grandes Études de Paganini, S 141/3

Fryderyck Chopin:

5 Prélude in C, Op 28 No 1

6 Étude in C, Op 10 No 1

George Frideric Handel:

7 Air, with five variations 'The Harmonious Blacksmith' from Suite No 5 in E, HWV 430

Carl Maria von Weber:

8 'Perpetuum mobile' finale of Sonata No 1 in C, Op 24

Fryderyck Chopin:

9 Fantasy Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op 66

Johann Sebastian Bach:

Prelude and Fugue No 3 in C sharp, BWV 848 from The Well-Tempered Clavier book 1
10 Prelude
11 Fugue

Fryderyck Chopin:

12 Étude in G sharp minor, Op 25 No 6

13 Étude in A flat, 'Aeolian Harp', Op 25 No 1

14 Étude in D flat, Op 25 No 8

15 Étude in G flat, 'Butterfly', Op 25 No 9

16 Étude in G flat, 'Black keys', Op 10 No 5

Hans Seeling (1828-1862):

17 Concert Étude in E flat minor, Op 10 No 12

Edvard Grieg:

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16
18 I Allegro molto moderato (heavily abridged)
19 III Allegro moderato molto e marcato (heavily abridged)

Robert Schumann:

20 Novellette in E, Op 21 No 7

Fryderyck Chopin:

21 Waltz in A flat, Op 42

22 Waltz in G flat, Op 70 No 1

23 Waltz in E minor, Op posth

Bedřich Smetana:

24 Polka in F (Czech Dances Book 1, No 3)

Domenico Scarlatti:

25 Sonata in F, K 525 (L 188)

26 Sonata in G, K 523 (L 490)

Franz Liszt:

27 Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 in C sharp minor, S 244/2


CD2 - Gramophone Company, London UK and Grammophon, Berlin, Germany - acoustic recordings

Franz Schubert:

1 Monent musical in F minor, D 780/3 (Op 94 No 3) (recorded London 1913, acoustic)

Schubert/Liszt:

2 'Hark, Hark the Lark' - lieder von Fr Schubert, S 558/9

Fryderyck Chopin:

3 Étude in C, Op 10 No 7

4 Waltz in D flat, 'Minute', Op 64 No 1 (recorded London, 1913)

5 Waltz in D flat, 'Minute', Op 64 No 1 (recorded Berlin, 1916)

6 Étude in A minor, Op 10 No 2

7 Étude in F, Op 25 No 3

8 Étude in F minor, Op 25 No 2

Anton Rubinstein:

9 Polka in G, Op 82 No 7

10 Romance in E flat, Op 44

Franz Liszt:

11 Hungarian Rhapsody No 12 in C sharp minor

Johannes Brahms:

12 Variations on a theme by Paganini, Op 35 (abridged)

Fryderyck Chopin:

13 Étude in A minor, 'Winter Wind', Op 25 No 11

14 Polonaise in A, Op 40 No 1

Mozart / Backhaus:

15 Sérénade de Don Juan

Schumann / Liszt:

16 Widmung, S 566

Delibes / Dohnányi:

17 Naila Waltz

Franz Liszt:

18 Liebesträume No 3, S 541/3

Fryderyck Chopin:

19 Polonaise in A flat, Op 53 (abridged)

20 Waltz in A flat, Op 42

Bedřich Smetana:

21 Polka in F (Czech Dances, Book 1 No 3)

Moritz Moszkowski:

22 Caprice espagnole, Op 37


CD3 - HMV, London UK - acoustic and electrical recordings

Johannes Brahms:

1 Variations on a theme by Paganini, Op 35 Books 1 and 2

Fryderyck Chopin:

2 Prelude in C, Op 28 No 1

3 Étude in C, Op 10 No 1 (recorded 1925)

4 Étude in A minor, Op 10 No 2

5 Étude in C minor, 'Revolutionary', Op 10 No 12

6 Étude in F, Op 25 No 3

7 Étude in C, Op 10 No 7

8 Étude in C, Op 10 No 1 (recorded 1933)

9 Berceuse in D flat, Op 57

Franz Schubert:

10 Moment musical in F minor, D 780/3 (Op 94 No 3) (recorded London, 1927, electrical)

11 Moment musical in F minor, D 780/3 (Op 94 No 3) (recorded London, 1928, electrical)

12 Impromptu in B flat, D 935/3 (Op 142 No 3)

13 Menuetto from Sonata in D, D 894 (Op 78)

14 Moment musical in A flat, D 780/6 (Op 94 No 6)

Edvard Grieg:

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16
15 Allegro molto moderato
16 Intermezzo: Adagio
17 Allegro moderato molto e marcato

As one of the great pianists of the twentieth century, Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) needs no introduction. He recorded almost continuously from 1908 until his death, but this set, focusing on his earliest recordings, completes APR's coverage of all his solo and concerto output for The Gramophone Company/HMV, except the electrically recorded Brahms titles, which are available elsewhere. These early discs, many recorded at Hayes in Middlesex, reveal Backhaus as an exciting young virtuoso, rather than the sober purveyor of German classics he was to become.

Recorded between 1908 and 1936 in London and Berlin.