Franz Liszt - Piano Concertos; etc. (Julius Katchen; Jorge Bolet)

Information

CD1

• Franz Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
• Franz Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
• Ernő Dohnányi - Variations on a nursery song, Op. 25

CD2

• Franz Liszt - Totentanz
• Franz Liszt - Malédiction
• Franz Liszt - Fantasia on Hungarian folk themes
• Franz Schubert - Wandererfantasie (orch. Liszt)

Julius Katchen (CD1) & Jorge Bolet (CD2), piano

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Ataúlfo Argenta, Adrian Boult & Georg Solti, conductor

London Symphony Orchestra

Iván Fischer, conductor

Date: 1957; 1959; 1984; 1986 / 2000

Label: Decca

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Review

The next Double Decca is undoubtedly my pick of the month, and not to be missed. It combines superb examples of the virtuosity and fine Romantic sensibility of two of Decca’s most charismatic keyboard lions, Julius Katchen, from the 1950s and early 1960s, and Jorge Bolet from the 1980s. Having made the best-ever mono recording of Dohnanyi’s Nursery Variations, Katchen and Sir Adrian Boult returned to the Kingsway Hall with the LPO to record it again in 1959 with comparable flair and the bonus of Decca’s finest analogue stereo, which still sounds marvellous more than four decades later.

The Wagnerian opening is thrilling, and the first appearance of the famous nursery-rhyme theme brings a delectable frisson, while the performance throughout sparkles with wit. Katchen was partnered by Argenta for the two Liszt concertos and the result is hardly less involving, though perhaps No 1 is rather finer than No 2. But when we turn to the other Liszt concertante pieces the result is even more dazzling. Bolet’s bravura is remarkable: his fingerwork glitters, and he gets splendid support from the LSO under Ivan Fischer; he also makes a remarkably good case, here with Solti, for Liszt’s over- the-top orchestral version of Schubert’s Wanderer fantasie.

— Ivan March

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Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, and music teacher. Liszt gained renown in Europe for his virtuosic skill as a pianist and in the 1840s he was considered to be the greatest pianist of all time. As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent composers of the "New German School". Some of his most notable musical contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and making radical departures in harmony.

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Julius Katchen (15 August 1926 – 29 April 1969) was an American pianist. Debuting at age 10, he soon performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. After graduating from Haverford College in 1946, Katchen relocated permanently to Paris following a successful European tour and an appearance at the inaugural International UNESCO Festival. Before his untimely death from cancer at age 42, Katchen mentored some notable students, including Pascal Rogé, and built an enduring recorded legacy with Decca, highlighted by his landmark complete survey of Brahms's solo and chamber piano works.

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Jorge Bolet (15 November 1914 – 16 October 1990) was a Cuban-born American pianist, conductor and teacher. Born in Havana, he studied and later taught at the Curtis Institute of Music, and was also a professor at Indiana University. Bolet only gained international recognition in the 1970s, performing up to 150 concerts annually. He is especially celebrated for his performances and recordings of large-scale Romantic music, particularly works by Liszt, Franck and Chopin, as well as for his expertise in virtuosic piano transcriptions and technically demanding works, including those by Godowsky, with whom he studied.

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