Word: backhaus
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Rubinstein, whom his friend Thomas Mann called "that civilized man," is a product of the same Europe that Mann knew, a Europe that also nurtured such pianists as Benno Moiseiwitsch and Wilhelm Backhaus. Indeed, Rubinstein could have stepped out of a Mann novel. His enthusiasm for food, wines, cigars, paintings and fine editions is legendary, and his cultural interests extend far beyond his music. He reads omnivorously in eight languages, hobnobs more with writers than he does with musicians, occasionally regrets that he did not follow a youthful urge to become a novelist. His piano playing seems the consequence...
Beethoven: The Five Piano Concertos (Wilhelm Backhaus, piano; Vienna Philharmonic, under Schmidt-Isserstedt: London, 4 LPs). The 76-year-old pianist in a series of grand performances that are lithe, elastic and incisive...
Pianist Richter-Haaser's postwar reputation spread rapidly; he has played with virtually every major European orchestra, been hailed as the successor to such German greats as Gieseking and Backhaus. Says Richter-Haaser ruefully: "I do not go on stage to play wrong notes. But the important thing is the idea. The piano must not be like a machine...
...precious minutes. Amazed, he listened to her for two hours, then got her a scholarship to Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, offering to teach her himself. Later she was sent abroad to study and took lessons (all free) from Egon Petri, Artur Schnabel, Alfred Cortot, Wilhelm Backhaus. Said Sergei Rachmaninoff: "In one year you will be magnificent. In two years you will be unbelievable . . . Would you like some cookies...
...Congratulations on your tribute to the "over 60s" of music [Feb. 28]. I was fortunate enough to be seated near the leader of the applause at the Wilhelm Backhaus concert: the 80-year-old Fritz Kreisler. He applauded first, loudest, and longest...