Current conventions dictate that I should not enjoy these intepretations, especially that of the D minor Concerto, so much as I do. Set down 20 years ago, the recorded sound is restricted yet adequate. And the balance is good in the orchestral concertos, so that the piano can pass smoothly from solo to accompanimental roles. The vitality of both these works is excellently conveyed and the D minor's outer movements are sometimes dramatic. Katz plays most expressively in the slow movements—and the Andante of the Italian Concerto—but sounds fairly impersonal in comparison with, say, Dinu Lipatti in 1950 (Jecklin D541, 12/81) or Glenn Gould in 1957 (CBS 79358, 2/85). I could have done without his (relatively few) left-hand octave doublings; best to leave such things to the harpsichordists.
Katz makes a similar impression on his own in the Italian Concerto, with strong, well-motivated playing. This is another engaging peformance, even if, again, it is much less individual than, for example, Alfred Brendel's (Philips 9500 353, 8/78). The sleeve-note, taken from the original 1965 Golden Guinea issue, says ''We take the unusual course of offering two records, containing the same works by Bach, one using the harpsichord, one the piano'' being once part of a two-LP set with Frank Pelleg playing the harpsichord versions—and nobody at PRT thought it necessary to make the obvious change in this text!'