LXT 2532 / 2535 / 2603 / 2715 / 2747 / 2777 / 2780 / 2809 / 2902 / 2903 / 2920 / 2931 / 2939 / 2950   BEETHOVEN: THE COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS / CHOPIN: PIANO SONATA in B Op. 35      WILHELM BACKHAUS

DECCA  UK 1950 - 1954     MONO      14 LP     FIRST ISSUE ORANGE & GOLD LABELS      ORIGINAL SLEEVES                NM vinyl / Ex sleeves - considering they are over 70 years old they are in remarkably good condition. 

An extremely rare complete set that took years to find in good condition. As far as I know this is the first time the whole set has been offered for sale in its original form.

The first sonata to be recorded (No. 30), coupled with Chopin's B minor sonata on LXT 2535, indicates that the decision to record the whole series was not made at that time. Perhaps spurred on by the launch of the Kempff survey of the Beethoven sonatas on DG in 1951, Decca began recording the rest of the cycle. It took four years to record all the sonatas and Backhaus rounded the process off in 1955 with the Diabelli Variations on LXT 5016 (reissued on LXT 6014) - both available elsewhere on Kingsway Hall Classics.

NB  some of the photographs of the record labels appear to be orange and silver, but this is a trick of the light - all the records have the original orange and gold labels