Hungarian Dances Nos. 4 & 5

[y1g1tcn]

nice to discover him.. he looks like marc andre hamelin here

[mephistodimitrov]

WOW....no pianists like this anymore!!!

[tombennettpiano]

dude has SERIOUS chops. Wow.

[y2141018]

not 5

[libetta]

he is what friedman is to chopin's mazurkas as what he is to brahm's hungarian dances, and all other solo brahms works

[belialah]

Estas son las Danzas Hungaras N. 7 y 4....No la 5

[favio100]

stop saying that the numbers are wrong because ALL THE USERS NOTED THAT 

PELOTUDOS

[contekkst]

@favio100 so they should be changed!

[yellingLoL]

These are dances 3 and 4, not 4 and 5

[yellingLoL]

i meant 7 and 4, not 3 and 4

[paulineyml]

i thought that is Brahms's hungarian dance no. 7

and the second one he played is no.4

but anyway he played them very well.

[bighairybaby]

Has anyone else heard his incredible recording of the Ravel left hand? I've yet to hear a better performance. The same has to be said of his Rhapsody in Blue. If not for his very early death there's no doubt that he'd be mentioned regularly alongside the more familiar greats from that era.

[beilliatoy]

Yes yes yes! At last! I been waiting forever for someone to mention that recording, it was one of my favourites for both works. The man had what so many lack today the marrying of a transcendental technique to an amazing natural musicality that shaped every phrase with dynamic colour and or excitement. Also a wonderful rubato. He was above all so very "musical" He certainly is one of my all time greats. I agree with you. thank you for this acknowledgement of this wonderful artist.

[bighairybaby]

I once read an article in which his wife said that Katchen referred to those lingering periods of rubato as his 'magic moments'. The cadenza of that Ravel recording is one of my all-time favourite pieces of piano playing.

[beilliatoy]

My partner just bought me the complete Solo piano works of Brahms by Katchen. I'd heard many of these years ago but oh what a joy! And I'm with you on the Ravel. Interesting snippet about his rubato too. Anyone know how he managed to die so young?

[deviantrake]

He very sadly died of cancer in 1969. I have the LP of the Ravel concerto (with the Rhapsody in Blue and Prokofievs' 3rd concerto), utterly fantastic!

[1donpizarro]

More precisely, he died of leukaemia. But does this really matter? His death was such a loss !!

[boydcape]

and then number 4

[boydcape]

its number 7

[carlotajoaquinaporra]

I love this, but I thing the title is wrong. I know number 5 is not this one!

[carlotajoaquinaporra]

Sorry, I THINK its wrong, hehehe

[MiguelTicona]

i hate this brahms´s piece, ist horrible, awfull,

[superbemaison]

What about his brahms op 76???Unforgettable though Richter can match him even differently.

This means no version are definite

[superbemaison]

I was overwhelmed the day I bought the Katchen complete Brahms set.

[greekyboy123]

I know exactly what you mean. I'm not really one for declaring any performances as 'definitive' - but so far nobody has matched Katchen in Brahms for me. His playing of the early Scherzo in Ebm makes others sound very dull indeed.

[coolchampagne]

He really makes the music come alive!

[dido93]

@superbemaison ahahah....I can imagine when you heard the Brahms-Paganini....:-)

[babouchkat]

...indescriptible...le bruit même de ma respiration risquerait de gacher cette musique et cette interprétation...alors je retiens mon souffle...je le retiens..

[Vinteuil01]

One of the best Brahms interprete, with Lars Vogt

[Dullybore]

Julius Katchen! First time I see him on film. He was maybe the greatest of "unknown" virtuosos of the 2nd half of the 20th century. Thanks a post MORE.

[maxreger100]

@Dullybore But not "unknown" to those who were his contemporaries. A magical artist still remembered by many --especially those who had the pleasure to hear him live.

[VioletKIng69]

LOL dance no 4 was rediculous i hated everybit of it ..middle sectionwas horrible

[antoinezygfryd]

De tout ce que j'ai entendu de Brahms,Katchen est l'arbre qui cache la forêt.

Il perçoit,comprend et transmet chaque note,chaque intonation,du moins est-ce ainsi que je le ressens depuis bien longtemps.

[gnolti]

Delighted to find Katchen on YouTube. Never thought I'd see the day. Far and away the greatest of the Brahms pianists.

[alexkonow]

yeah, t90bach is right. this is number 7 and number 4. number 5 is the really famous one. this pianist is amazing. he reminds me a bit of cziffra.

[sevenevanheaven]

I agree.......I love these on both piano and violin, but honestly have never heard of this pianist, who is very good. Looks like a very old video.

[77katsumoto]

Hungarian Dance No.4 with 2 hands? Oh My god! Great!

[t90bach]

Amazing playing and musicality, but those are the Hungarian Dances Nr.7 in F-major and Nr.4 in F#-minor.

I just discovered this pianist on Youtube and all I can say is that I can't understand why the real greats always die to young.

[naninani84]

simply wonderful

[Lvbeet20]

who is he?

[pianopera]

Wonderful playing! The cameraman should be shot...

[crisgranda]

If anyone has Katchen playing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, please post it, it's really worthy!!

[dereczynski]

A true musician. Anyone who cannot identify with this side of Brahms should keep their cold heart and laden feet from Johannes great art.

[dido93]

Rachmaninov, 2nd concerto, Katchen...listen and then tell me about....:-)

[jprebrush]

Any more examples of this wonderful pianist?

[KlassikFan2007]

You can find some in my account :)

[vova47]

MORE PLEASE!

[bighairybaby]

Katchen was cool. Spoke several languages fluently and was an expert on oriental pottery. Not to mention one of the greatest pianists of his generation. What a guy...

[ghardvyu]

GREAT!

[bsmusicd]

Wonderful Post! I always found the Hungarian dances a bit hokey but Katchen plays then with such style and virtuosity.