Credits:

Julius Katchen

Description:

A collection of concerto recordings by American pianist Julius Katchen (1926-1969). Julius Katchen was a leading American musician who went to Europe shortly after World War II and was very active, but he died at the age of only 42. Of the two CDs, the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1, for which he left no commercial recordings, is particularly valuable. The Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in Brussels is highly combustible and shows that one should not listen to Katchen only on commercial recordings. Katschen’s specialty, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff, accompanied by the master Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, is also thrilling. Bartk’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is thankfully a stereo recording, albeit not very expansive. And in Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand, Pierre Montoux’s highbrother Charles Bruck complements Katchen’s piano in a colorful Parisian accompaniment. All of these are two C