BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 / BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 (NTSC)

WILHELM BACKHAUS & KARL BÖHM

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano · Wiener Symphoniker
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.2
Wiener Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm, conductor
Recorded at the Studio Rosenhügel, Vienna, 3-9 April 1967 (Beethoven) /
Grosser Musikvereinssaal Vienna, 16-19 September 1970 (Brahms)

Picture format: NTSC 4:3 full screen
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 73 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

• This DVD brings together two of the major musical figures of the 20th-century, Wilhelm Backhaus and Karl Böhm



• Backhaus was regarded by many as the greatest interpreter of Beethoven



• Backhaus and Böhm were friends of nearly forty years' standing and collaborated in concertos by both these composers on many occasions



• The present performance was among their last. Two years later, Backhaus died, aged 85, after a career of some seventy years



• Both men were technicians of exceptional brilliance



• Böhm's command of orchestral ensemble, sonority, textural clarity and subtlety of rhythm was legendary. His musicianship was impeccable, his authority unquestioned



• A marvellous testament to great Brahms conducting!