Beethoven: Piano Concertos No. 2 and 4 (2004)

This video brings together two of the major musical figures of the 20th century, Wilhelm Backhaus and Karl Bohm. Backhaus was regarded by many as the greatest living interpreter of Beethoven. Backhaus and Bohm 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. Bohm'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