Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Variation I
2. Variation II
3. Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op.24
4. No.1 in D minor
5. No.2 in D
6. No.3 in B minor
7. No.4 in B

Disc 2:

1. Variations on a theme by Schumann
2. Variations on an Original Theme in D, Op.21, No.1
3. Variations on a Hungarian Song in D major, op.21, no.2
4. Nos.1-8
5. Nos.9-16
6. Scherzo in E flat minor, Op.4

Disc 3:

1. 1. Allegro
2. 2. Andante
3. 3. Scherzo (Allegro molto e con fuoco)
4. 4. Finale (Allegro con fuoco)
5. 1. Allegro non troppo, ma energico
6. 2. Andante con espressione
7. 3. Scherzo. Allegro
8. 4. Finale (Introduzione. Sostenuto - Allegro non troppo e rubato)
9. Rhapsody in B minor, Op.79, No.1
10. Rhapsody in G minor, Op.79, No.2

Disc 4:

1. 1. Allegro maestoso
2. 2. Andante espressivo
3. 3. Scherzo (Allegro energico)
4. 4. Intermezzo (Andante molto)
5. 5. Finale (Allegro moderato ma rubato)
6. 1. Capriccio in D minor
7. 2. Intermezzo in A minor
8. 3. Capriccio in G minor
9. 4. Intermezzo in E major
10. 5. Intermezzo in E minor
11. 6. Intermezzo in E major
12. 7. Capriccio in d minor

Disc 5:

1. 1. Capriccio in F sharp minor
2. 2. Capriccio in B minor
3. 3. Intermezzo in A flat
4. 4. Intermezzo in B flat
5. 5. Capriccio in C sharp minor
6. 6. Intermezzo in A
7. 7. Intermezzo in A minor
8. 8. Capriccio in C
9. 1. Intermezzo in A minor
10. 2. Intermezzo in A
11. 3. Ballade in G minor
12. 4. Intermezzo in F minor
13. 5. Romance in F
14. 6. Intermezzo in E flat minor
15. 1. Intermezzo in B minor
16. 2. Intermezzo in E minor
17. 3. Intermezzo in C
18. 4. Rhapsody in E flat

Disc 6:

1. 1. in E flat major
2. 2. in B flat minor
3. 3. in C sharp minor
4. Hungarian Dance No.1 in G minor
5. Hungarian Dance No.2 in D minor
6. Hungarian Dance No.3 in F
7. Hungarian Dance No.4 in F sharp minor
8. Hungarian Dance No.5 in G minor
9. Hungarian Dance No.6 in D flat
10. Hungarian Dance No.7 in F Hungarian Dance No. 7 in A
11. Hungarian Dance No.8 in A minor
12. Hungarian Dance No.9 in E minor
13. Hungarian Dance No.10 in F
14. Hungarian Dance No.11 in D minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
15. Hungarian Dance No.12 in D minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
16. Hungarian Dance No.13 in D - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
17. Hungarian Dance No.14 in D minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
18. Hungarian Dance No.15 in B flat - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
19. Hungarian Dance No.16 in F minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
20. Hungarian Dance No.17 in F sharp minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
21. Hungarian Dance No.18 in D - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
22. Hungarian Dance No.19 in B minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
23. Hungarian Dance No.20 in E minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon
24. Hungarian Dance No.21 in E minor - Julius Katchen, Jean Martinon

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60665 in Music
• Released on: 1997-11-10
• Number of discs: 6
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .42 pounds
• Running time: 382 minutes

Customer Reviews

A wonderful offering
There may be the individual recording made by others - Gilels, Rubinstein, Arrau - of a particular piece which might be preferred but as a collection of the Brahms piano works, this set has to take the prize.

The quality of original recording is high and the digital transfer seemingly well done. One has to listen very attentively to detect which of the four Ballades were recorded monaurally; a strange anachronism in the 'sixties. Also, the piano is an unusually fine-sounding instrument and I wonder if it might not be the Bösendorfer which resided in Decca's Hampstead studios around the time these recordings were made.

As another reviewer has suggested, the accompanying notes in french and german do provide interestingly different perspectives. But what I find inexcusable is that neither of these, nor the text in english, offers any biographical or other information on the pianist. The title is "Brahms, Works for Solo Piano. Julius Katchen". That's it - Katchen dismissed! Despite there being two blank pages in the accompanying booklet and two more of irrelevant other releases by London, that is the only mention made anywhere of the artist. I find this not only irritating but offensive.

Julius Katchen was an American pianist who moved to post-War Paris at the age of twenty. He was the consummate musician with a broad performing repertoire; a very highly regarded soloist in his time - a time which included Rubinstein, Backhaus, Gilels, Horowitz, Moiseiwitsch and Solomon - and a very empathetic accompanist but whose achievements like those of Witold Malcuzynski are not so well remembered today. This set serves to redress the balance a little and introduce Katchen to a new generation who surely will appreciate what in my view is the best available recording of the fiendishly difficult Paganini variations. His recording of the Brahms Opus 24 Handel variations (which are up there with Bach's Goldbergs for sheer breadth of musical invention) also is one of the best.

I recommend this set very highly.

As an unconnected aside, some fifty years ago and quite by chance, I found myself sitting next to Katchen on an aircraft. I remember he had unusually expressive hands; a useful attribute as the noise level of the DC3 cabin militated against easy conversation! At the time, I was wrestling with the G minor Rhapsody and he was very generous with his advice (and a free ticket to a recital the following evening!). A charming man who died prematurely in 1969.

Buy this set - I can't imagine why you would regret it.

Vehemently recommended.
This box will have the width of a finger on your shelf, but will provide you with endless hours of boundless enjoyment. Julius Katchen not only showed that he was a master of the Brahms piano repertoire in the 1960s, but London also awarded him amazingly realistic and faithful piano recording. The transfers to 6 CDs have been totally successful, amongst the very best in London's "Collectors' Edition" series.

If you have a chance to sample what's here, try the early Scherzo in Eb, Op 4, a wonderfully robust, powerful work, and the late Op 117 Intermezzi, reflective, reposeful works. You'll also find some of the brilliant sets of variations - masterpieces that are fiendishly difficult to play - and the complete sets of waltzes and Hungarian dances.

Vehemently recommended.

Lifetime investment
This is one of those sets that you will go on listening to for decades. Katchen was a great pianist, he was at his best in Brahms, and the recorded sound is excellent.