Pianist 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 of compositions focuses on this more ‘romantic’ repertoire – his Chopin études still astonish with their virtuosity. His Schumann Fantasy is another landmark recording, and what a delightful surprise it is to hear him in his own spectacular transcriptions in works by Albéniz and Moszkowski.
Here is Wilhelm Backhaus in selections from his final recital:
