Search - Beethoven, Katchen, Gamba :: Piano Concertos 3-5

This is so good that it will surprise you!

Craig Matteson | Ann Arbor, MI | 07/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Julius Katchen wasn't a household name around my house until I bought this recording at a friend's recommendation. Wow! These are not cookie cutter interpretations of these well known concertos. Katchen has all the technique he needs plus an interpretive ability that lets him make them his own while still remaining true to the music. Given how many times these things have been recorded that is saying quite a bit, I think.The London Symphony under Piero Gamba is a fine accompanist for Katchen.The approach is full throated and the fourth is wonderfully aggressive with the last movement being almost wild!This is a very nice set to have in your collection."

The Beethoven Concertos with Katchen and Gamba

Peter G. Watchorn | Cambridge, MA USA | 11/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These were some of the most impressive of Decca's releases in the late '50s and early '60's. Katchen's performances are simply electrifying: full of depth, lyricism and extraordinary virtuosity. The sound is similarly excellent - the release should tell us the names of the producers and engineers. (The producer was, in fact, the exemplary Ray Minshull, and the sound has all the hallmarks of the Kingsway Hall in London). It's now time for Decca to re-issue all the material from these remarkable sessions with Katchen, Piero (then Pierino!) Gamba, and the LSO. In addition to the first two concertos, it is time to restore the original "fillers" from the LP issues - the Rondo in B flat (originally composed as the finale to the second concerto) and the Egmont overture, which were included on the original four Decca SXL LPs. Gamba's overall direction throughout is most compelling, and Katchen's amazing musicianship reminds us of what the world lost when he died at the age of 42 in 1969. I think this is one of the strongest sets of the Beethoven concertos ever released, and it would be a fitting tribute to Katchen's sadly truncated career if Decca restored these to the catalogue in their entirety (as well as the two Mozart piano concertos recorded with Munchinger in 1966, issued in 1967). In the meantime, we must be grateful for what we have. Buy it!"

Off-the-cuff Beethoven, fast without depth

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/14/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm brought up short by the two rave reviews below. Julius Katchen was a young American virtuoso in the postwar generation that included William Kapell, Gary Graffman, Leon Fleisher and Byron Janis. These recordings date from 1959-64 before Katchen's premature death at age 42 in 1969. They are not soniclly remarkable in any way--if anything they sound a bit bright and brittle--and the rarely inspiring Piero Gamba proves a shallow conductor for Beethoven, passing up almost every opportunity for depth of expression.



But so does Katchen, so they are well matched. Moving along briskly over the surface of the music, both soloist and orchestra seem intent on getting the proceedings over with as soon as possible. One listens in frustration for any emotional involvement, even in a few searching phrases. I suppose by period-performance standards these readings are pioneering, in that shallowness has become a positive value in reaction to romanticism. It's buyer's choice, certianly, but I have put this barrgain two-fer on the discard pile."