Word: backhaus
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...Wilhelm Backhaus, 70, returned to the U.S. (he was born in Germany and lives in Switzerland) to give his second postwar all-Beethoven piano recital for a full and cheering house...
...under way, several large, attractive series were on the counters. Victor released the second two LP volumes of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas, played with unbeatable fire and insight by the late great Artur Schnabel. London completed its own releases of the same series by 70-year-old Wilhelm Backhaus, as well as all seven Symphonies by British Composer Ralph Vaughan Williams with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Columbia packaged most of the Orchestral Music of Brahms (four records), lovingly played by the Philharmonic-Symphony under Bruno Walter, and all the Beethoven Cello Sonatas (three records), masterfully...
...Pianist Backhaus, square-jawed and bulky, played five sonatas by Beethoven with the virility and technique of a man half his age. He began with the tried & true Pathétique, swirled through the Tempest, rippled through Les Adieux, produced a playful Opus 79 and summed everything up with a lofty performance of Opus III. "One of the greatest evenings ... of Beethoven's piano music [in a quarter century]," raved the New York Times's Olin Downes. "Mr. Backhaus was young with Beethoven...
...Backhaus' reason for staying away from the U.S. so long: a vague "things political." He is now a Swiss citizen (he left his native Germany in 1931), and although he played in Germany during the war, bears no taint of Naziism. But he had private doubts: "I did not want to come here and run the risk of getting a reception some other Germans had. Why should I run the risk...
...Wilhelm Backhaus was delighted with his success, but he was not sure about coming back for an extended tour. "I am too old. After all, one must face the fact." On the other hand, he has just completed a heavily booked tour of Europe. Reminded of this, he admitted: "At the piano I feel young enough...