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Cyprien Katsaris: Still the Transcription King

Jed Distler

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

Cyprien Katsaris returns to the Sony/BMG fold with Piano Mascarade, a two-disc anthology whose subtitle roughly translates “The most amazing piano transcriptions of Symphonic, Operatic, and Choral Masterpieces”. Most of the recordings have previously appeared on Katsaris’ own Piano 21 label, and span four decades. Several items, however, are new to CD, including the Chopin/Liszt Six Chants Polonaises, the Schubert/Godowsky Morgengruss, the Bach/Vivaldi/Feinberg A minor organ concerto, plus an improvisation that interweaves an ancient Greek tune, Liszt’s Les Préludes, Borodin’s Polovetsian Dance No. 17, Rachmaninov’s Third piano concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” symphony into a delightful 10-minute free-for-all.

The opening selection alone defines Katsaris’ audacious virtuosity. His transcription of the Badinerie from Bach’s B minor Orchestral Suite begins in the manner of a straightforward piano reduction. Then, out of nowhere, hailstorms of notes swarm upon the high registers, faster than the speed of most human piano players. Katsaris gussies up Lev Soline’s Khachaturian Sabre Dance with the most nimble interlocking chords since Cziffra. In fact, a 1975 archival recording of Cziffra’s madcap “Flight of the Bumblebee”, Czerny’s Handel “Hallelujah!” chorus, Matthew Cameron’s Allegro from Mozart’s A Little Night Music, and Hummel’s Mozart Symphony No. 40 Allegro molto seem more fun to play than to listen to. But Eduard Schütt’s take on Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz includes more extensive stretches of original passagework than in the relatively familiar Schulz-Evler transcription.

Eric Chumachenco pushes multi-leveled detached articulation to the limit in his solo-piano transcription of Orff’s Carmina burana, and Katsaris tosses off the first two movements in grand style (Chumachenco recorded the entire transcription for Wergo, by the way, and it’s pretty hair-raising in its own right!). If you think that Rachmaninov’s Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos is difficult, you haven’t reckoned with Vladimir Leyetchkiss’ solo reduction of the whole piece. The Waltz’s intricate double notes and the Tarantelle finale’s blinding staccatos require levels of agility, precision, and stamina that are positively…well, Katsarisian! By contrast, Karol A. Penson’s sensitive solo version of the Mahler Symphony No. 5 Adagietto suits Katsaris’ sometime underrated lyric gifts.

The pianist reinforces the Reinecke Schubert Unfinished first movement and Liszt “La Marseillaise” transcriptions with ear-catching chords and flourishes, while the aforementioned Chopin/Liszt songs come to life with insouciant phrasing and exciting dynamic surges. Considering that these 1975-2014 recordings stem from multiple sources, the sound quality is variable, but always listenable and often outstanding. One thing, however, is consistent, and that’s Cyprien Katsaris’ provocative, sometimes misunderstood, yet compellingly original piano artistry.


Recording Details:

Album Title: Piano Mascarade
Reference Recording: None for this collection

Transcriptions of works by Albéniz, Bach, Chopin, Handel, Khachaturian, Mahler, Orff, & others

    Soloists: Cyprien Katsaris (piano)

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