Chopin, Liszt, Schumann & Others: Piano Pieces

From his first major recital at age fifteen in 1899 until his final public concert just one week before his death, Wilhelm Backhaus’ career was one of the longest among the twentieth century’s prominent pianists. Wilhelm Backhaus (1884–1969) left a 60-year recorded legacy which began in 1908, but the champion of Beethoven and Brahms we know from his later years performed a much wider repertoire before the war. This set focuses on this more ‘romantic’ repertoire – his Chopin études from 1928 were the first complete recorded cycle and still astonish with their virtuosity. His Schumann Fantasy is another landmark recording, the 78rpm era benchmark, and what a delightful surprise it is to hear him in his own spectacular transcriptions or in works by Albéniz and Moszkowski.