Wilhelm Backhaus (Leipzig, 26 march 1884 – Nillard, 5 july 1969)

At the age of ten he enrolled in piano lessons with Alys Reckendorf at the Conservatory in his home town before moving to Frankfurt to meet the great Eugen d’Albert. In December 1900, he performed Brahms’ Concerto in B flat in Manchester, accompanied by Hans Richter, who had played the composition on the piano under the composer’s direction in its world premiere. On 24 October of the following year he made his debut with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Arthur Nikisch, playing Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto. On his return to Manchester, Alexander Brodsky, director of the Conservatoire, offered him the post of professor of piano at the Royal College. In 1905 he was awarded the ‘Anton Rubinstein’ prize in Paris. This prize, which enabled him to obtain numerous contracts, marked the beginning of his great career as a travelling virtuoso. Backhaus’s repertoire was very extensive at the beginning of his career and included Liszt, Chopin and classical music. During the last thirty years of his life he reduced his repertoire to compositions by Schubert, Brahms and especially Beethoven, of whom he is considered one of the most authentic interpreters.