Julius Katchen ∙ Piano Recitals 1946-1965 ∙ 2CD

Julius Katchen was one of two musically gifted children in a family of musicians. His sister, Rita Katchen Hillman, was an accomplished pianist as well as violinist, who served as concertmaster of the New Jersey students orchestra and the Oberlin Conservatory orchestra. In an atmosphere of musical tradition, young Julius started playing the piano. Showing extraordinary signs of musical talent from earliest childhood, he had been trained by his maternal grandmother. Together with his mother, he heard many famous pianists play at Carnegie Hall, including his three idols at that time, Rachmaninoff, Josef Lhévinne and Alexander Brailowsky. Other pianists, such as André Benoit, José Iturbi, and Mischa Levitzki, who had heard young Julius in private auditions, acclaimed his talents. Between 1937 and 1939, Katchen appeared regularly in concerts with major American symphony orchestras, and he gave numerous recitals. Despite the great reviews and the reception, Katchen followed his appearances, not with a tour capitalizing on the notices and publicity, but by further study. He worked with Julius Goldstein Herford in New York, a German immigrant, who studied piano with James Kwast in Berlin. Thereafter he studied privately with David Saperton, former head of the piano department of Curtis Institute. After the Second World War, Katchen had been awarded the graduate scholarship as an exchange fellow for a year’s study at the University of Paris. Because he thought the opportunities better for concert dates and musical growth, Katchen built his career in Europe. He succumbed to cancer and died in 1969, at the height of a brilliant career at the age of 42. In a 31-year career, Katchen played on six continents, in 42 countries and with 122 symphony orchestras.

Some of these performances derive from so early in Katchen’s career that they include his earliest radio recording from 1946. The double album includes Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in A-flat Major, Op 26, Gershwin’s Three Préludes and Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, D 960, three pieces missing from his commercial legacy.

Meloclassic would like to thank Claire Bouchendhomme and Bruno Monsaingeon for their assistance with this CD set. We especially thank the Rita Katchen Hillman Family for providing rare photos included in this set.