Don’t know if this is my absolute favourite version, but I’m definitely getting a real kick out of listening to this version of Brahms Piano Concerto #2. Backhaus was in his 80’s when this was recorded. Amazing to read (in the notes pictured below) that his first public performance was in 1892! This recording is just the 55 years old. Sounds so real and involving.
Since getting the Klimax Radikal upgraded to version 2 it’s very difficult to give the ND555 any listening time. Who’d a thought that?
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That is a very famous recording, KJC, one that I’ve never heard. It was made at the same time that Decca were recording the never to be equalled Wagner Ring Cycle under Georg Solti.
Boehm went on to record the Brahms Concertos in Vienna in equally famous recordings with the Philharmonic and Maurizio Pollini for Deutsche Grammophon, which are wonderful.
Your post has reminded me to have a look for a nice copy of the Backhaus disc, so thanks for that.
PS I have looked and, needless to say, no LPs to be found.
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Discogs lists 4 copies of the 1962 original Decca mono and 7 copies of the original stereo, a few of which are NM and (for the mono at least) at not-silly prices. Lots of later pressings available too.
Thank you, Corry, that’s kind of you.
I have never been able to work out how to use discogs to buy LPs. I had a quick try just now, but no success, as usual. I am also being screwed around by my bank at the moment, so I’m pretty sure that my Visa card won’t work anyway.
My problem, don’t worry. I’m happy with the Mauro LP that I have of the work.
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You’re welcome! Assuming you’re familiar with online shopping generally - adding things to the cart (or “basket”, or “bag”), then clicking through the checkout process and paying with your credit card, Discogs shouldn’t present too many difficulties. The only hurdle I can think of is that you have to have an account and be logged in, otherwise the green Add to Cart buttons don’t do anything. Creating an account is just a matter of clicking the yellow Register button at the top right - the signup process is simple.
Once you get your bank issue sorted, you may find that Discogs is a honeypot of temptation. Compared to the dark ages of vinyl - late 90s & early 00s, when it was difficult to find any new or used records outside of the most popular ones - the challenge I find is having the self-control not to immediately buy every interesting looking record that gets recommended on here 
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Thank you, again, Corry. I don’t actually need much incentive to buy LPs. I’m very much in the Oscar Wilde camp of being able to resist anything but temptation!
I may have another go at Discogs, once I’m home with a new piece of plastic that actually works.
Switching topics entirely, I see from your Profile that you have a Woodsong Wenge plinth for your LP12. I also have a Wenge plinth for my LP12, but mine was made by Solid Sounds in Yorkshire. As the old boy and girl joke used to go, I’ll show you mine, if you’ll show me yours! Incidentally, am I right in remembering that Woodsong are no longer making LP12 plinths, or have I confused that with something else?
I had never heard of Wenge until I first got talking to Solid Sounds towards the end of last year. I understand that the wood grows prolifically, and it is promoted these days as a sustainable alternative to logging of endangered wood species in the great tropical rain forests. Which makes me wonder why I had never heard of it before.
2 or 3 on well known auction site too
Thank you, good people. I’ll see if I have any luck once I get back home.
Streaming Symphony no.6 in the background as I endeavoured to alphabetise my Classical Vinyl and engaging nicely with these excellent performances, so once I’d finished sorting the albums I sat down to listen to the 6th symphony in full. I’ve been enjoying my Vinyl so much in the past few months that the streamer hasn’t really had a look in when it comes to serious listening. I have to say that it was very enjoyable and held my attention throughout, but after it was finished I couldn’t resist pulling out my recently purchased charity shop £1 Decca Jubilee vinyl copy of the Kertesz/LSO recording and replaying the final movement.
You can probably guess what I’m going to say; dynamics, air, real people playing real instruments in real time in a real acoustic. Gripping, intoxicating, wide-screen, technicolour, edge of the seat performance. Extraordinary.
And that’s just a ‘cheap’ Jubilee series reissue. I’d love to hear what a good condition original Decca release might conjure 
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Funny - I listened to those recordings back to back recently (from ripped CDs). I preferred to Kertesz both for musical quality and sound.
Istvan Kertez never really got the acclaim that should have been his due, perhaps because he drowned at a relatively young age in a swimming accident.
You are comparing two completely different performances and recordings. And different reproduction equipment.
Was your intention to compare performances/recordings or compare streaming to vinyl ?
Graham, did you write that with your tongue firmly in cheek… 
Oh dear, have I done something silly?
(Very probably, but I can’t see what it is. Mind you, it’s unlikely, as I’m always deadly serious on here.)
Most people drown at a relatively older age is implied maybe? 
But anyway I agree that he is under-appreciated and his Dvorak symphonies are magic, including especially No 6.
I suppose that people drown at all ages, sadly.
The sad fact remains that Kertesz died at a relatively young age.
He was not the only one to do so. Think of Guido Cantelli (Toscanini’s intended successor), Dennis Brain (driving back to London after an appearance in Edinburgh) Fritz Wunderlich (who fell down some stairs, while going into a cellar to get a bottle of wine), to name just a few.
No no it was me being silly 
Just ignore me 
Most people die rather than drown, was what I meant. But anyway….
Its time for a good Requiem then. Or maybe a lighter stabat mater.
There are some lovely Requiems out there: Mozart (of course, the subject of the ‘Amadeus’ play and film), Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Brahms’s German Requiem, Verdi’s ‘operatic’ masterpiece, Fauré and - closer to our time - Britten’s War Requiem.
I don’t have a religious bone in my body (and I’m unsure how many of these composers did), but I recognise the beauty of each of these works.
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