Julius Katchen: Berlin 1962, 1964

Katchen is well known for his imperious Brahms, but the true revelations in these 1960s German radio recordings are the Chopin and Liszt. A wonderful fusion of technique and imagination. — BBC Music Magazine, May 2014, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 10th Mar 2014
Catalogue No: AUDITE21419
Label: Audite
Length: 1 hour 48 minutes

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Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor, S178

Work length27:25

Album only

Julius Katchen

Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178 / R. 21

Track length27:25

Album only

Brahms: Fantasies (7 piano pieces), Op. 116

Work length22:00

$7.00

$9.10

Julius Katchen

No. 1, Capriccio in D Minor

Track length2:01

$1.00

$1.30

No. 2, Intermezzo in A Minor

Track length3:34

$1.00

$1.30

No. 3, Capriccio in G Minor

Track length2:32

$1.00

$1.30

No. 4, Intermezzo in E Major

Track length4:25

$1.00

$1.30

No. 5, Intermezzo in E Minor

Track length3:31

$1.00

$1.30

No. 6, Intermezzo in E Major

Track length3:50

$1.00

$1.30

No. 7, Capriccio in D Minor

Track length2:07

$1.00

$1.30

Excerpt, Brahms: Klavierstücke (6), Op. 118

Work length9:54

$2.00

$2.60

Julius Katchen

No. 2, Intermezzo in A Major

Track length5:55

$1.00

$1.30

No. 5, Romanze in F Major

Track length3:59

$1.00

$1.30

Brahms: Scherzo in E flat minor, Op. 4

Work length8:14

$2.00

$2.60

Julius Katchen

Beethoven: Variations (32) on an Original Theme in C minor, WoO 80

Work length9:51

$2.00

$2.60

Julius Katchen

Beethoven: Rondo a capriccio in G major, Op. 129 ‘Rage over a lost penny'

Work length5:00

$1.00

$1.30

Julius Katchen

Excerpt, Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82

Work length3:21

$1.00

$1.30

Julius Katchen

Waldscenen, Op. 82: No. 7, Vogel als Prophet (the Songster-Prophet)

Track length3:21

$1.00

$1.30

Excerpt, Chopin: Nocturnes (3) Op. 9

Work length4:26

$1.00

$1.30

Julius Katchen

Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2

Track length4:26

$1.00

$1.30

Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47

Work length7:35

$2.00

$2.60

Julius Katchen

Chopin: Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2

Work length6:42

$1.00

$1.30

Julius Katchen

Nocturne No. 8 in D-Flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2

Track length6:42

$1.00

$1.30

Chopin: Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57

Work length4:26

$1.00

$1.30

Julius Katchen

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This anthology of Julius Katchen’s complete solo recordings made during two recording blocks in 1962 and 1964, expands Katchen’s discography by as many as six first releases: Beethoven’s Rondo Op. 129, Rage Over a Lost Penny, Chopin’s A flat major Ballade, the two famous Nocturnes Op. 9.1 and Op. 27.2, the late Berceuse, and finally Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor, one of the pillars of 19th century piano music. Katchen’s energetic and virtuosic reading of the Liszt sonata ranks highly amongst the great recordings of this piece. However, his interpretations of the works by Chopin, Beethoven and the late Brahms, thanks to his natural combination of virtuosity, musicianship and sense of form, are also documents of magnificently timeless piano-playing.

Julius Katchen (1926-1969), who died tragically early of leukaemia, represented, alongside Leon Fleisher, Gary Graffman and William Kapell, the generation of the so-called OYAPs (Outstanding Young American Pianists) who from 1940 onwards established themselves as strong and enduring competition to the European pianists who had dominated American concert stages until that point. Katchen had been born into a Russian-Jewish family of immigrants in the state of New Jersey and made his début aged only 10 with Mozart’s D minor Concerto. In the following year he was invited by Eugene Ormandy to take part in a concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra as the youngest ever soloist in the history of that orchestra. A year after that he gave his solo début in New York. In 1946 Katchen moved to Paris, becoming one of the most active American musical ambassadors in Europe. His extensive discography, at whose centre are the complete piano works of Brahms, shows him to be a sophisticated virtuoso of the new type, for whom pianistic brilliance was no raison d’être as such, but instead served a deep intellectual and emotional penetration of the music.

Reviews

May 2014

Katchen is well known for his imperious Brahms, but the true revelations in these 1960s German radio recordings are the Chopin and Liszt. A wonderful fusion of technique and imagination.

April 2014

The original tapes have been superbly remastered by Ludger Bockenhoff and the sound is extraordinary. Katchen was one of the outstanding pianists of his generation, and this set is an important and inspiring addition to his recorded legacy

July 2014

This is one of those rare performances of the sonata where one feels, however naively, that we have been on a real journey…In that respect alone it is a remarkable performance...this production is an exceptionally fine addition to Audite’s already admirable sequence of RIAS releases.

Offer,Julius Katchen: Berlin 1962, 1964

2 CDs

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