Wilhelm Backhaus
German pianist known for Beethoven, Brahms, and pioneering recordings.
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Wilhelm Backhaus (1884–1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue, sometimes listed as "Bachaus" on record labels.[1] At sixteen, Backhaus embarked on his initial concert tour, and in 1905 he was the winner of the Anton Rubinstein Competition, with second place going to Béla Bartók.[2]
Making and release
His complete Beethoven sonatas were recorded in the 1950s and '60s for Decca, and his two Brahms concertos date from about the same time.[3] The Royal Manchester College of Music appointed Backhaus as Professor of Piano in 1904.[2] Despite acquiring Swiss citizenship with his wife in 1931, Backhaus continued to have an active professional life within Germany.[4] Following the Nazi takeover, Backhaus had a meeting with Adolf Hitler by May 1933 and in that same year became an executive advisor for the Nazi group Kameradschaft der deutschen Künstler.[4]
For the show elections held on 29 March 1936, Backhaus contributed a statement to Die Musikwoche praising Hitler; subsequently, on 20 April 1936, Hitler granted him a professorship and extended an invitation to the Nuremberg Rally.[4]
What the cited sources add
Pirani reported that Backhaus, upon seeing Rosé backstage, "turned his back and walked through a passage"[5] Pirani called the incident "a stab in the back by this cowardly man, who for fear of his Nazi masters could not behave decently, even in London"[5] Richard Newman writes that Backhaus's "offensive behavior... may have been due to his awareness of German agents operating in London at the time"[5] Newman also adds that Backhaus moved to Switzerland "in opposition to the Nazi regime"[5]
The Times also reported his phenomenal transposing powers, including an anecdote about playing Grieg's A minor Concerto in B-flat minor at rehearsal when the piano was a semitone too low.[6] Violinist Leila Doubleday Pirani recounted that in November 1938, she went to a Backhaus concert in London with Alma Rosé, a Viennese Jewish violinist, who told Pirani that Backhaus "was a great friend of the family."[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Backhaus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Slonimsky, "Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians", Schirmer Books, 1992 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Backhaus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Manchester Faces and Places", Geo. Woodhead and Co Ltd, February 1905, p. 45–48 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Backhaus" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Backhaus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fred K. Prieberg: Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945, CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, S. 213.; Ernst Klee: Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 23.; Full quote to be found (in German) by Fred K. Prieberg: Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945, p. 213, also see Ernst Klee: Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich, p; Fred K. Prieberg: Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945, CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, S. 213. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Backhaus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Quoted on p. 111 (also do refer to p. 49 of the same book) of Richard Newman, Alma Rosé: From Vienna to Auschwitz, 2003, Hal Leonard,; Note 15, p. 341 of Richard Newman, Alma Rosé: From Vienna to Auschwitz, 2003, Hal Leonard, (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Backhaus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Times (July 7, 1969) "Professor Wilhelm Backhaus" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Wilhelm Backhaus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Wilhelm Backhaus (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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