Person Open DS/UK/270 Backhaus; Wilhelm (26 March 1884-5 July 1969); German pianist and pedagogue Backhaus Wilhelm 26 March 1884-5 July 1969 German pianist and pedagogue Male (cisgender) Bachaus Leipzig, Germany (born)

German Swiss Music | Piano White No known disability No known religious affiliation Heterosexual Wilhelm Backhaus was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much admired as a chamber musician. He made his first concert tour at the age of sixteen. In 1900 he went to England and in 1901 played for the first time in Manchester at the Gentleman's Concerts. In 1902 he performed at the Hallé Concerts, and thereafter in 12 concerts at the Queen's Hall, London and played 6 different piano concertos at the Promenade Concerts. In 1904 he became Professor of Piano at the Royal Manchester College of Music. In 1905 he won the Anton Rubinstein Competition, with Béla Bartók taking second place. He toured widely throughout his life - in 1921 he gave seventeen concerts in Buenos Aires in less than three weeks. Backhaus made his U.S. debut on 5 January 1912 as soloist in Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto with Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony Orchestra. Citizenship: In 1930, Backhaus moved to Lugano and became a citizen of Switzerland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Backhaus (2020) International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes Fascism/Antisemitism After the seizure of power by the Nazis Backhaus met Adolf Hitler, in about 1933. That same year, he became executive advisor to the Nazi organization Kameradschaft der deutschen Künstler (Fellowship of German Artists). For the show elections of 29 March 1936, Backhaus published a statement in the magazine Die Musikwoche under the rubric of "soloist" translated as, "Nobody loves German art, and especially German music, as glowingly as Adolf Hitler…" A month later, on 20 April 1936, Hitler's 47th birthday, he gave Backhaus a professorship, and invited him that September to attend the annual Nazi party's Nuremberg Rally. The violinist Leila Doubleday Pirani wrote that in 1938 she attended a Backhaus concert in London conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, with the Viennese Jewish violinist Alma Rosé. Rosé claimed that Backhaus "was a great friend of the family" and took Pirani backstage tomeet him after the concert. However, Pirani wrote that while "Boult greeted us nicely," Backhaus "turned his back." Pirani called the incident "a stab in the back by this cowardly man, who for fear of his Nazi masters could not behave decently, even in London." RAHhbryony 7/11/2012 RAHAKirkbride 11/28/2022 47f5f753-77fa-489f-ba8a-a8cd7a838e74