New series: Brahms: Piano Concerto No 1 - a historical survey of mono LP era performances
Audition: Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1,
Backhaus, Horowitz x 2
Wilhelm Backhaus/VPO/Bohm#BrahmsOp10
1953, Decca
This disc has been highly regarded since its first release and the partnership between conductor and soloist was talked about as a meeting of minds from a golden era. Wilhelm Backhaus was born in 1884 and was 10 years older than Karl Bohm.
Backhaus’ first recording* of the Brahms’ Op 10 Concerto was in 1932 with Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony conducting and was a tempestous affair - tensile and full of adrenaline. It was an extremely bullish and virtuosic performance and Boult was, unexpectedly, up to the standard of orchestral playing required.
This recording with the Vienna Philharmonic was of a different type and although there were flashes of the earlier fevered and virtuosic playing it was calmer and less of a shock to the system.
There are a number of live performances from this era captured from concerts are now available on CD by Backhaus and Bohm including one with the Staatskapelle Dresden and another with Monteux and Backhaus in a 1950 performance
It’s worth noting that the Decca recording picks up the extraordinary clarity of the Vienna Philharmonic strings in those days. The inner parts of other sections of the orchestra are also well miked too.
The reading is expansive and clear and to my ear, nodding to the symphonic origins of this music. The opening introduction is mighty and highlights just how well the Vienna Philharmonic rebuilt and prospered whilst Berlin were in a state of messy transition.
It’s no surprise that both the orchestra and Bohm delve deep to match Backhaus weight. As the music progresses, this movement has confident playing and the pianist is, suitably, is much less declamatory than his earlier recording.
The second movement is also a surprise and most of that is supplied by the conductor and his Orchestra. The gentle lines of the Adagio are so beautifully played by both winds and strings that we could be hearing a chamber version of the work - yet both conductor and pianist seem to be of mind in this approach. And it’s only when the dash out is more agitated that they show a bit of metal. Sadly the glorious long pedal notes underpinning this great movement are not well done - slightly underpowered. I think this is a shame. Backhaus is very delicate and not really in the mood for a slow deep meditation it seems.
The final movement is more like Backhaus’ previous form and this is matched by Bohm but it’s not as exhilarating or interesting as other pianists have managed. It’s slightly disappointing - given what we’ve heard from Backhaus previously. I think I would prefer the earlier version for sheer ferocity of Backhaus - it raises the hackles. The stars here are the Vienna Philharmonic restored to their pre war glory recorded with the best post war technology.
Audition: Brahms - Piano Concerto No 1, Horowitz/NYPSO/Toscanini
Live performance from 78s, March 1953
Toscanini and his son in law in tandem reveal new ways to play Brahms’ masterpiece
You’ll need to put that to one side. It’s generally surface noise and it isn’t on all of the sides. That being said it’s a fascinating meeting of two formidable musicians of their period at the top of their powers in Brahms’ most dramatic concerto so it’s too good to miss.
For the majority of the reading Toscanini sticks to Horowitz like glue and it works like a charm. Horowitz is the star turn and he shows huge variety of techniques which redefine the model we know today.
The first movement is is suitably powerful and terse. It’s bold and precise and make the music sound like the beginning of a Beethoven symphony. But every line is held and Toscanini matches the ebb and flow of the younger colleagues thinking.
The Adagio is beautifully musical and his touch here is sublime. There are points where it hardly sounds like Brahms at all and more like Chopin to its benefit. the movement is lifted from the role of interlude to something much more beautiful and substantial. The pedal notes are telling.
The final movement is glorious if by that point many listeners aren’t jaded by the state of the recording. It is dramatic, fresh and breathless.
Overall this is a fascinating document of how a pianist of a very different tradition to most of those who were subsequently to record it and a conductor who was completely at his service.
The Orchestra is fine and we can hear quite a lot of the inner detail which is remarkable for the source and the technology of the period. Horowitz went on to record the Concerto again a year later and that was in studio circumstances.
We don’t, outside of the concerti, associate Horowitz with Brahms, sniglets aside, there’s not much on record. But he brings a breath of fresh air, as a 32yo, beyond the path others were taking.
Audition: Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 - Vladimir Horowitz/Concertgebouw Orchestra/Walter
pp 1936
This recording needs to be contextualised given its age. The Orchestra is not on great form and not very well recorded, even for the time. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Concertgebouw in those days was not the sleek and rich body and it later became. Woodwinds are a bit wiry, the horns iffy and some instrumental lines are lost at times. The timpani are often quite intrusive but this may be the recording issue given it’s a live recording. There’s some untidy playing too, but this may partly be because Walter pushes hard at times.
Walter’s reading is urgent and muscular we don’t always associate with him with this approach - he was 60 years old in 1936. Unfortunately, sometimes when combined with the recording, it comes over as uneven, somewhat crude and distracting in the recording when he presses hard, though there are many moments of beauty too.
Horowitz is extravagant and effusive and on less disciplined form than he was playing for Toscanini the year before in New York. Though Jed Distler reminds us that Horowitz wasn’t particularly happy playing under his father-in-law. Horowitz is by turns bold and forceful presence and in the slower passages, sensitive to every detail. It’s remarkable to hear the concerto played with that range.
There’s something of a pull and push in this reading between conductor and soloist which is exciting sometimes which I don’t find very satisfying at others. We shouldn’t be put off though, it’s always interesting to hear a different take on a major work by major artists.
Whilst there are lots of things to admire in this reading and Walter does give a passionate account in the orchestra, I tend to prefer the version with Toscanini . Horowitz is so head strong that he can’t really be matched by the orchestra in terms of virtuosity. Though there’s plenty of times when there is harmony between the two. Given it’s a live performance it’s gratifying that there aren’t too many intrusions from the audience.
Note: the Music and Arts disc which I heard had 3mins of Horowitz’s perf with Toscanini dubbed in with a track break due to a broken 78. This marked by a track break. It makes little difference.
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