Search - Julius Katchen :: Decca Recordings 1949 - 1698

A self-commending set for the Katchen admirer, but the dupli

Discophage | France | 08/03/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This set is self-commendable for the record collector and Katchen admirer, but it confronts him again with the vexing issue of duplications. I'm more ready than Mr Richman to put up with the reissue of material previously licensed to other labels, like Testament (Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3; Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3; Mikrokosmos (excerpts)) or Philips Great Pianists (Julius Katchen vol. 1, which I'll call GP henceforth), now out of print anyway. But a fairly substantial chunk of this "original masters" set (hereafter OM) irksomely duplicates the contents of the 8-volume, 16-disc "The Art Julius Katchen" ("The Art") released by Decca Australia in 1999-2000. Decca claims that most of these reissues make their "first international CD release" - but what is that worth in the internet era? As soon as I read about the release "The Art", I purchased the complete series from the Australian Buywell Classical. There is no more such thing as purely "national" or "local" with the net, the world is the market.



Katchen re-recorded in stereo some of the material he had already done in mono and when the case, "The Art" has the later, stereo version and OM the earlier one, but the scope of duplication is blurred by the imprecise to faulty information on recording dates provided by "The Art" (leading Mr Richman to some inaccuracies), so let me try and set the record straight.



Disc 1. This is the earlier, mono version of the Diabelli variations (1953) and Sonata op. 111 (1955). Vol. 7 of "The Art" (The Art of Julius Katchen, vol. 7: Beethoven Sonatas Nos. 23 & 32, Diabelli Variations, Mozart Sonatas [IMPORT]) has the stereo Diabelli from 1961 and the Sonata from 1968, in addition with more Beethoven and Mozart not represented here. Only the small Polonaise op 89 is the same, from 1968. The liner notes to OM call these early Diabelli variations "one of the fastest on record", and "very much a young man's view of the work: exciting, extrovert" - but the 1961 version is even more so, and comes in better and fuller sound.



Disc 2 and 3. These two are irksome. Most of the material is on Vol. 8 of "The Art" (The Art of Julius Katchen: Volume 8): Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie and Schumann's Carnaval and Toccata from 1957 (the latter with a faulty transfer on OM), Chopin's Sonatas (1954), Fantaisie-Impromptu and Polonaise (1961). Only the Etudes Symphoniques (1953) and Chopin's Ballade and Fantaisie (1949) are not duplications (though the two latter were on GP). Can the collector get rid of his vol. 8 of "The Art", then? No sir, as not only the sound is better, but it has Schumann's Arabesque also from 1957 and a series of five "encores" from 1961.



Disc 4. Now this is what Decca should have done throughout: no duplication with "The Art" and not even, as could have been feared, with the Original Masters set devoted to Ricci (Decca Recordings, 1950-1960 (Limited Edition)), here represented in Katchen's earlier, 1956 recording of Brahms' 2nd and 3rd Violin-Piano Sonatas (Katchen made a famous complete recording with Josef Suk in 1967: Violin Sonatas 1-3). We also get four Mendelssohn encores and Franck's rare Prelude Chorale et fugue (also on GP).



Disc 5: with Katchen's early (1949) recording of Brahms' 3rd Sonata (previously on GP) and his 1958 recording of the Haendel and Paganini variations (not the same as his mid-sixties versions in his complete Brahms set, Brahms: Works for Solo Piano), this is a valuable disc (strangely, the sonic perspective in the variations sometimes shifts, as if different takes had been spliced together). Still, this being Katchen's second of three recording of Brahms' Haendel variations, and the first one, from 1952, being still unreissued, Decca has lost an opportunity to release both. Maybe they thought the duplication would prevent some buyers...



Disc 6. Unlike Mr Richman then, I am happy that Decca chose to release Katchen's earlier version of Bartok's 3rd with Ansermet from 1953 instead of his stereo remake with Kertesz (available on vol. 6 of "The Art", The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol. 6 [Australia]), along with his selection of Mikrokosmos. On the other hand the two Ravel Concertos, as good as they are, are superfluous here, as they too are on vol. 6 of "The Art"



Disc 7: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Britten's Diversions and Prokofiev's 3rd piano concerto are already on "The Art", vol. 6 and 5 (Prokofiev, The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol. 5). Diversions is also included in Decca's Britten collection(s) (see Prince of Pagodas). And why not publish the earlier, Ansermet-conducted version of Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto, rather than the later one? So the only interesting piece on this disc is Rorem's Sonata, a real rarity, though it was already on GP. That said, it is not a very memorable piece. It starts in a genteel, dreamy manner reminiscent of Copland's prairie style, and goes in a French neo-classical, post Poulenc style.



Disc 8: The Rachmaninoff Concerto is Katchen's first recording from 1951 with Fistoulari, whereas vol. 5 of "The Art" has his later stereo version from 1958 with Solti. Though their sharing of the LPO and Boult is confusing, the Rachmaninoff Paganini variations and Dohnanyi Nursery variations are actually NOT the same as those on volume 5 of "The Art". As was often the case at the advent of stereo, Katchen, the LPO and Boult re-recorded both works in 1958 (and that's what we have in "The Art"), four years after their first instalment (given to us in the OM box). As could be expected, the interpretation hasn't changed substantially in the course of the four years, but the sound is much better in stereo, with admirable presence and depth. Finally only one item from vol. 5 of "The Art" is duplicated in the OM box: Prokofiev's 3rd Concerto with Kertesz.



Ultimately, the better stereo sound and sometimes preferable interpretations make "The Art" the first choice for the budding collector or music lover interested in Katchen. For the seasoned collector who insists on near completedness and who has not yet purchased the various items from "The Art" (are there any?), he can go for the OM's set and do without volume 6 (Gershwin-Ravel-Bartok-Britten) and 8 (Schubert-Schumann-Chopin and encores) of "The Art", but with the loss of Gershwin's Piano Concerto, the stereo version of Bartok's 3rd, Schumann's Arabesque and the five encores.

"

Classic Katchen, But Why Import Only?

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 06/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In January, I was delighted to discover that Decca was issuing another round of "Original Masters" box sets, including ones featuring Jean Martinon, Wilhelm Backhaus and this title with Julius Katchen. It was the New Year, and I figured I'd hit the local CD shop in the coming weeks, carry over the holiday cheer, and buy myself some late Christmas presents. Nearly seven months later -- no dice. See the problem is, these OM sets have yet to come out domestically, and they didn't even show up on Amazon until May. (They also took a good month to arrive once I did order them from Amazon.) But as annoying as that is, at least the Decca sets are reasonably priced (for now), because the latest DG OM sets featuring Kubelik, Fournier and Leinsdorf, also import only, are currently $20-$30 more expensive than the Deccas even though they have the same number of discs!



All complaining aside, let's discuss the contents of this fine eight-disc set. Much of Julius Katchen's Decca output has been reissued on CD in the past, including a great deal of it in the last couple of years in "The Art of Julius Katchen" volumes (see my reviews). Fortunately much of the material here is receiving its first international release. While many of Katchen's famous stereo performances of the Brahms Sonatas and Variations have been readily available, his earlier mono recordings of the 2nd & 3rd Violin Sonatas (with Ricci), the 3rd Piano Sonata, and the Paganini and Handel Variations contained here had not. Also instead of Katchen's stereo Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 with Solti, released both in the Classic Sound series and "The Art of..." volumes, we get an earlier mono account from 1951 with Fistoulari, making its CD debut. In fact, the solo piano works covering the first five discs make up the majority of the first time on CD offerings -- Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, and various pieces by Chopin and Schumann among others.



Unfortunately, there is a bit of redundancy on the last three discs, particularly on the works showcasing piano with orchestra. The Ravel Concertos, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Britten's Diversions, and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 all appeared previously on various import volumes from "The Art of Katchen" series. Also, in an increasingly alarming trend, recordings that were licensed out to the Testament label, in this case Bartok's Pieces from Mikrokosmos and the 3rd Piano Concerto with Ansermet, are returning to the mother label and being duplicated here. Aside from a lovely subdued reading of Rorem's Piano Sonata No. 2 from 1952 and the aforementioned Rach PC 2, the content of these last three CDs already appears on other discs I own, and therefore is a complete waste as far as I'm concerned.



Overall, this collection is very good, and granted most will not have the same problem with duplication that I do, though serious collectors can surely sympathize with my frustration. My one-star demerit is given not for the music, which is fantastic, but as a result of UNI's questionable marketing decisions. Producing these "Original Masters" sets as limited editions is hard enough for us classical collectors, but please don't decide additionally that it is only worth your while to sell them in Europe and Japan."