Julius Katchen Piano Recital
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Franz Liszt, Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky
Label: Historic
Magazine Review Date: 5/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 68
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 425 961-2DM
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Pictures at an Exhibition |
Modest Mussorgsky, Composer
Julius Katchen, Piano Modest Mussorgsky, Composer |
Mephisto Waltz No. 1, 'Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Julius Katchen, Piano |
Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses, Movement: No. 7, Funérailles |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Julius Katchen, Piano |
(19) Hungarian Rhapsodies, Movement: No. 12 in C sharp minor |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Julius Katchen, Piano |
Islamey |
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev, Composer
Julius Katchen, Piano Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev, Composer |
Author: James Methuen-Campbell
Katchen's most significant legacy of recordings was without a doubt the cycle of Brahms's solo piano works from the 1960s. He was then a fully mature artist, even though he died at the tragically early age of 42. The performances collected together on this new CD in Decca's Historic series all date from the early to mid 1950s, when Katchen was very much a young lion of the keyboard, revelling in virtuosity per se. It was he and William Kapell who were regarded as the leading lights of America's young generation of pianists. It would be wrong to assume that the recordings here are representative of his artistry at its peak.
To my way of thinking it is the Mussorgsky and the Liszt ''Funerailles'' that are the most convincing. In Pictures at an Exhibition one admires an amazing display of temperament and freedom of conception. Observance of the text, especially as regards the dynamic markings, is inconsistent, but this does not matter very much, since Katchen's ideas no doubt originated from his experience in performance. The ''Ballet of the unhatched chicks'', in particular, is beautifully fresh and impish, although the high D flat at the double bar has such an excruciating tone that the effect is slightly tarnished. Intensely colourful, the reading is bursting with confident virtuosity and personality.
The Mephisto Waltz No. 1, too, receives a fine performance, but not a great one. Technically superb, there is a certain largesse lacking in Katchen's approach; he is a little unyielding in terms of drive. ''Funerailles'' quite avoids the conventional melodrama that one so often hears—he invests the music with great dignity and pays a special attention to the Chopinesque aspects. When it comes to the Hungarian Rhapsody the pianist demonstrates no interest whatever in the gipsy elements, which are surely the key to an idiomatic interpretation. Instead, the overall impression is one of powerful and extremely fast playing. The same can be said of Balakirev's Islamey. The tendency to tighten in the most taxing episodes means that one is made even more aware of the task at hand.
The piano tone is excessively dry in the Mussorgsky and it is a pity that a better instrument wasn't chosen. The sound is richer in most of the other items, though the bass generally lacks resonance.'
To my way of thinking it is the Mussorgsky and the Liszt ''Funerailles'' that are the most convincing. In Pictures at an Exhibition one admires an amazing display of temperament and freedom of conception. Observance of the text, especially as regards the dynamic markings, is inconsistent, but this does not matter very much, since Katchen's ideas no doubt originated from his experience in performance. The ''Ballet of the unhatched chicks'', in particular, is beautifully fresh and impish, although the high D flat at the double bar has such an excruciating tone that the effect is slightly tarnished. Intensely colourful, the reading is bursting with confident virtuosity and personality.
The Mephisto Waltz No. 1, too, receives a fine performance, but not a great one. Technically superb, there is a certain largesse lacking in Katchen's approach; he is a little unyielding in terms of drive. ''Funerailles'' quite avoids the conventional melodrama that one so often hears—he invests the music with great dignity and pays a special attention to the Chopinesque aspects. When it comes to the Hungarian Rhapsody the pianist demonstrates no interest whatever in the gipsy elements, which are surely the key to an idiomatic interpretation. Instead, the overall impression is one of powerful and extremely fast playing. The same can be said of Balakirev's Islamey. The tendency to tighten in the most taxing episodes means that one is made even more aware of the task at hand.
The piano tone is excessively dry in the Mussorgsky and it is a pity that a better instrument wasn't chosen. The sound is richer in most of the other items, though the bass generally lacks resonance.'
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