Brahms - piano sonata no. 2 - Mvnt 1 & 2 /Julius Katchen/

[anmusic48]

No. Molto meglio Richter. Qui non vengono rispettate le indicazioni dell'autore, gli accenti sono stravolti. Si perdono migliaia di note a causa della velocità.

[BenMcCormack91]

It's weird, you hear about all the most famous pianists - Horowitz, Richter, Argerich, Ashkenazy, Rubinstein - and then you find there's this huge undercurrent of lesser-known pianists who are in many ways just as good. Katchen; De Larrocha's another one; they're just not as famous for some odd reason. I think I need to get this guy's Brahms set.

[francorussie2]

beautiful but sound is not as beautiful as in Richter's performances; systematically R's sound is deeper and more singing

[sshuck]

@francorussie2 Do you even know what "systematically" means?

[twilight8love]

i prefer katchen's interpretation more than richter's but i wish it was a little bit slower... but not as slow as richter's

[rightman220]

Richter too slow - overly romanticized (almost in a Cliburn-like way). Katchen Brahms is incomparable, however, Gould's Brahms MUST be taken very seriously as well.

[4444matthew4444]

best interpretation on youtube...and I LOVE Richter, but this is just great!

[quinto34]

I like Richter's version better too, but this is a very interesting one.. If Katchen played it like Richter, I'd be bored, cause I heard that version a zilion times

Julius Katchen is great in his own right of course, but I am not his biggest fan I guess.. Matter of taste

[AnnMarry19]

I prefer Richter performance

[lilly763]

Oh wow, I've been hearing someone practice snippets of this piece for ages, and now I finally know what they come from.

[enricoI]

Cutting off the 2nd movement like that is pure evil.

[Irelandlass7789]

agreed

[polskaczech]

Martha Argerich on Chopin's Preludes (1970's) and Ignaz Friedman on Mazurkas played much more fastely. They are acclaimed on our days. I never saw anyone hate this performances (obviously too fast) or gives a bad comment. Is very important for a performer find a new skill of the composition. I hate JUST performances with the sheet music.

[jaroussky1]

I prefer Richter's version of that sonata, really it is too fast here. No matter that it is 'early' Brahms. You need speed and show-off skills for Liszt, but Brahm's philosophic music is very very far away from such things. Of course, Katchen is a great virtuoso, but music is not only virtuosity...

[AnnMarry19]

@jaroussky1 yes I agree 100 %

[cynic150]

This is very showy and flashy...early Brahms,I guess. rather immature. I am not very convinced by this performance. Maybe I don't really like the piece!

[kajohada]

here brahms sounds like prokofieff! :(((

[polskaczech]

Touché!! This Sonata by Katchen lives on 2 times.

[GLRTE]

allegro energico MA NON TROPPO. This is certainly too fast! Brahms originally intended this movement to be slower than that. Nevertheless, the clearness of this performance and its technical brillance are outstanding.

[polskaczech]

Just wonderful!!! Katchen shows a new way, a new world on this very inspirated performance. Too fast? Yes, but like the spirit of a young Brahms. Agitato. Unfortunately, the second movement is not completed.

[beryllium2]

Ohhh... This is quite an engeniuos sonata, I had to study it recently... Quite spify. Gotta love the expositions.

[kusuna7]

The tempo would be quick if it would not be convincingly played, but here a character of youthful passion is reflected, therefore the tempo is perfectly appropriate.

[despina41]

I agree completely. I think Katchen gets the spirit of this music. You can play late Brahms as adagio as you want, but this early stuff is pure adrenaline!

[PsychedelicLou]

No matter how hard I try I can't play it that fast. :[

[kalabus25]

I can't listening to this! It's tooooo fast form me. I don' understand what is he playing about.... Sorry..

[sbcpianist]

Thanks for posting! great sonata and great performance.

[gmspeedfreak]

tinkle the ivory's

[bayern2007xcx]

and i think so(look in the comment before,sorry), because i think brahms would have wanted it to be played not so fast.he played it the first time at Franz Liszt's house in Weimar and Franz Liszt said it was too slow.and our example here is played very fast. so i think if brahms played it there too slow for liszt(and he didnt like him tooo much), then i think he(brahms himself) played it slower, just as claudio arrau

[bayern2007xcx]

wow, what the hell is this? i hear this sonata , played by claudio arrau. and this one here is played much more swiftly almost too hastily, i think.i think arrau is better.

[sshuck]

Katchen's recording on London is a little less rushed while still being tremendously exuberant. That's the recording that got me both into Katchen and Brahms 2nd sonata. I never saw him though --- thanks SO much for posting!!

[nelassov]

Franchement qui de nos jours a surpassé Katchen dans l'interprétation des oeuvres de Brahms ?? personne !

[xAmandine]

I guess in classical music you can never "surpass" the stars before you, but there will certainly be new ones of whom the fans of their generation will say the exact same thing, only then will we know who they are - or rather, were

[nelassov]

I do not agree with you. I feel oneself closer of the Katchen's view about Brahms performance than the whole pianists ,formers and news.... but I agree with you, my post ist not objective, it's just a point of view. Only Johannes could say what the good performance will be....( sorry for my bad english...).

[lovesGenet]

This sonata gets me always since hearing Arrau .third sonata better work but leaves me unaffected except for intermezzo and Andante.2nd sonata every bar gets me.I can follow it .

[musicistablu]

Dear Klassikfan,

Thank you so much for this, it was a revelation! I am forever ingratiated to you!

[SLOKO970]

Yes, he's amazing. Does anyone by chance have a video of him playing any of the Brahms violin-piano sonatas with Josef Suk?

[bortkievitch]

Katchen está entre los grandes.Tan solo por su excelente grabación de la integral de Brahms merece estarlo.Un gran músico por su técnica unida a su gran sensibilidad. Todo un ejemplo.

[suzettegm]

Great, he does every justice to this sonata.

[unsichtbar007]

More of this please!

[301250]

It's playing of this order that wld dispel any reservations about Brahms dense piano sonatas, spanning the spectrum of piano works beginning with Scarlatti's, as being rather forbidding.

sd goh (malaysia)

[pianopera]

What a pity, part of the second mvmt. is missing, it was absolutely breathtaking...

[skyblue999]

Rare video!! Thanks!!

[chad410]

this is absoloutley out of this world performance.thanks