The late Julius Katchen took to the Romantic piano concerto repertoire as if all the war-horses in this two-disc set were written especially for him. Katchen piles into the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor Concerto, weaving a heady mixture of fiery daring and songful repose. Had the 1955 stereo sound been better and Piero Gamba’s London Symphony Orchestra a bit more on the ball, this version easily would have withstood competition from the classic Van Cliburn recording three years later. But Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy, also from 1955, boasts remarkable engineering, and a snarling, characterful accompaniment from Gamba. Katchen revels in the music’s unabashed theatricality, but the final section’s repeated notes get stuck in the mud.
The stereo Katchen/Boult Rachmaninov Paganini Rhapsody and Dohnanyi Variations generally improve upon the mono versions (reissued on Dutton), notwithstanding more incisive competition past and present. Katchen’s awesome fingerwork cuts through the Rachmaninov Second Concerto’s notey labyrinths like Drano tearing through a clogged sink. Solti’s scorching, whiplash accompaniment has a galvanizing effect on the London Symphony musicians, who play their collective tuchus off. And don’t claim the Argerich/Abbado Prokofiev Third to be the last word on this tautly colorful masterpiece until you’ve heard Katchen’s collaboration with Istvan Kertész. True, the Argerich version smokes. But Katchen’s inhales! In sum, anyone who seeks to define “big” piano playing need only check out these boldly projected, emotionally generous performances by a wonderful keyboard artist who died too young, from cancer, at 42.
