Katchen LP Milestones = BRAHMS: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5; RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 – Julius Katchen, piano/New Symphony Orchestra/Anatole Fistoulari
Pristine Audio PAKM038, 64:28 [www.pristineclassical.com] ****:
Pristine Audio owner and engineer Andrew Rose resuscitates two milestone recordings from the London Decca archives and producer John Culshaw, the Brahms Sonata No. 3 in F Minor (11 October 1949) and the Rachmaninov Second Concerto (11-12 April 1951), the first sonata and concerto recordings, respectively, to be issued on single LPs. Julius Katchen (1926-1969) built a formidable reputation as a Brahms acolyte, even consciously assuming rubato and luftpausen mannerisms traceable to the Romantic performance practice. For the Rachmaninov, Katchen applies his athletic style and muscular aggression to an overtly nostalgic score, perhaps at the sacrifice of sentimental tenderness.
The 1949 Brahms Sonata No. 3–like each of the piano sonatas, in thrall to the Beethoven 5th Symphony–allows the young virtuoso to effect a whiplash first movement, magisterial and relentless at once. Of special beauty, the Andante espessivo reveals Katchen’s pearly play, his capacity to paint the delicate fabric that here ties Brahms to Schumann’s limpid, falling figures. The rain-droplets effect will serve Brahms later in his Intermezzi from Op. 117, while the slow evolution of the Brahms stretti culminates in a passionate convulsion that breaks down and dissipates into a strummed romantic mist, akin to Wagner’s Liebestod. Attacca to the pungent Scherzo, its jabbing accents cogently projected with a tasteful application of pedal. The grumbling bass of the trio and the syncopated da capo already point to aspects of the D Minor Concerto. The Ruckblick movement exploits the feral Beethoven 5th rhythm quite shamelessly, but Katchen projects its forward drive without undue rhetoric, making the quick transition to the Allegro moderato finale. The polyphonic elements emerge immediately, rather hectic; then the arpeggios and tremolandi announce the Brahms grand melodic line, perhaps an imitation of a Chopin ballade. Again, the Schumann influence permeates the contrapuntal development merged with sonata-form. The last pages accelerate the strands of rhythmic tissue, a real volcanic etude, breathless and brilliant, a staggering tour de force by a young Turk in the throes of his Herculean prowess.
The Rachmaninov opens with clarion chords and wonderful momentum from Katchen, and Fistoulari elicits high gloss from his New Symphony Orchestra low strings. Katchen may be a literalist performer, but his rhythmic flexibility assures that the poetry of this popular music has been preserved. Speed and elegance combine for the first movement climax, on a par with my preferred William Kapell collaboration with William Steinberg from the same period. Lovely work between Katchen and the New Symphony cello section, with canny pedal and jeu perle from our gifted soloist, who passed from us decades too soon. The wonderful E Major Nocturne–with its reliance on Chopin’s Op. 48 set as examples–the Adagio sostenuto, achieves a poised repose after the innate thunder of the opening movement. The string pizzicati, quite articulate, make their points against Katchen’s exquisite legato, the periods shapely, moonlit, and sympathetic. The Allegro scherzando picks up in the same E Major as the movement prior, but it quickly has the fiery Katchen modulating to the dramatic C Minor. The steeplechase interrupts to allow the violas and oboe the chance to enjoy the full moon, empty arms notwithstanding. The long solo riffs often suggest the slow movement from Chopin’s Third Sonata. Katchen’s non-legato playing proves as infectious as his more liquid tones, and the whole converges on the fortissimo statement of the second theme. Despite my usual misgivings about Anatole Fistoulari (1907-1995) as an accompanist, his seamless projection of the romantic tissue remains forthright, at times downright explosive, a happy surprise that concludes in vibrant C Major.
–Gary Lemco
