Given the run-of-the-mill quality of many broadcast performances flooding the historic CD bins, this exciting Brahms D minor Concerto from 1951 unquestionably stands out from the pack. The overall recording quality is excellent for its vintage, even though the strings are a shade overprominent. However, there’s a great deal of stridency and distortion in loud passages, and I suspect that’s due to this CD having been mastered from an imperfectly dubbed copy several generations removed from the original source tape. Who knows? In any event, Julius Katchen’s ardent, impetuous traversal of the solo part oozes inspiration, even more so than his admirable studio recording with Pierre Monteux. From his imaginatively voiced opening statement and thunderbolt descending scales to his fiery trills and openhearted lyricism, Katchen sails full-throttle into Brahms’ unwieldy pianistic waves. He takes the score’s monumental aspirations in confident stride and simply plays his young tuchus off. Granted, most other pianists treat the first-movement’s tender second subject with more affection, but I find Katchen’s hard-nosed attitude somewhat refreshing.
Notwithstanding moments of shaky chording and loose attacks, Ernest Bour’s sturdy, powerfully projected conducting proves a major asset, notably in the Rondo’s incisive fughetta. Nothing is forced or mannered, save for a huge ritard leading into the first movement recapitulation: a jarring and rather crass effect. And whomever the sublime first-chair horn soloist is or was, rest assured that this player does not escape this review unnoticed! General listeners are warned about the aforementioned sonic flaws, but Katchen’s admirers will just have to weather them in order to hear their tragically short-lived hero at his irrepressible best.
