Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor" - Wilhelm Backhaus VPO
This outstanding release presents one of the most celebrated performances of Beethoven's majestic Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, "Emperor", a work of unrivaled grandeur and heroic sweep. Pianist Wilhelm Backhaus brings his legendary command and aristocratic phrasing to this monumental concerto, supported by the opulent string tone and exquisite woodwind playing of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. Recorded in June 1959 in Vienna and sourced from a London original pressing, this historic performance captures a defining moment in mid-century classical recording where interpretive authority and orchestral virtuosity aligned perfectly.
Artist(s): Piano - Wilhelm Backhaus
Conductor - Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
Orchestra - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Recording Info: Producer: Erik Smith
Engineer: James Brown
Recorded: June 1959, Vienna
This is sourced from a London Original Pressing
Components used for Transfer:
This transfer leverages precision analog playback and mastering-grade digital conversion. The signal path begins with a VPI HW-40 Anniversary turntable paired with an Ortofon MC Anna cartridge, fed through a Merrill Audio Jens Phono pre-amp for accurate RIAA equalization. The analog signal is converted via a Merging Anubis converter, powered by a Teddy Pardo Linear Power Supply, synchronized to an Antelope Audio 10MX atomic clock for temporal accuracy. All components receive isolated power conditioning through a Shunyata Research Everest 8000 with Sigma-X cords, while grounding infrastructure utilizes Shunyata ALTAIRA hubs to minimize noise floor and preserve sonic detail throughout the transfer chain.
2 Adagio Un Poco Mosso 7:19
3 Rondo (Allegro) 10:28
Please Note: This release was edited in DXD PCM from a DSD256 Master
then the DXD edited master was used to generate the final DSD files using
Merging Technologies Album Publishing.
DXD (352.8KHz 24/32 bit PCM) is one of the best and least destructive formats for post-processing DSD originated digital recordings
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