Julius Katchen's grandparents taught music at conservatories in Warsaw and Moscow, whilst his mother was a pupil of Isidor Philipp at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau. His father was an amateur violinist, and with so much music in the home, young Julius received all his musical tuition from his family. At the age of ten he made his public debut in Newark playing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor K. 466. A year later he played the same concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy at the Philadelphia Academy of Music and a month later repeated the performance in Carnegie Hall, this time with John Barbirolli conducting. At twelve Katchen gave his New York recital debut at the Town Hall and in July 1939 played the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 54 at Lewisohn Stadium with the New York Philharmonic and Efrem Kurtz.
Katchen was leading the life of a musical prodigy, who was taught not only music but all academic studies at home. Fortunately, when he was fourteen his father decided to enrol him in high school and stop his public performances. From high school Katchen went to Haverford College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1946 with a degree in philosophy. He had also studied English literature at Haverford and whilst at college he had some piano lessons from David Saperton. In the midst of his college studies, in December 1944, Katchen gave a recital at Carnegie Hall and two years later was one of five Americans offered a fellowship by the French government.
*
Arriving in Paris in the autumn of 1946 Katchen was asked to play in a concert organised by UNESCO. His performance of Beethoven's ‘Emperor' Concerto was broadcast and three days later he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto n° 1 in B-Flat minor Op. 23 whilst a week later, the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 54 followed. He played Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at the Nice Opera House and the following February gave his recital debut in Paris ; in April 1947 he played with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and in May was collaborating with Otto Klemperer. In the spring of 1947 Katchen played in nine European capitals and at the end of the year began a tour of America. From then on he made his home in Paris, playing frequently in Europe but less often in America.
Katchen's regular tours covered all six continents, his unlimited stamina and ambition leading him to give more than one hundred concerts per season. He played much music by the Russian virtuoso school as well as Beethoven and Brahms. In April 1964 Katchen played the complete solo music of Brahms in four recitals at London's Wigmore Hall, repeating the cycle in Cambridge (England), New York, Berlin, and Amsterdam. He was fond of big programmes and is known to have played three piano concertos in one concert at London's Royal Festival Hall (Beethoven's n° 3, Brahms's n° 2 and Rachmaninov's n° 2). In his early years Katchen played many of the great Russian concertos by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov and solo works such as Balakirev's Islamey and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition...
Source : https://www.naxos.com/Bio/Person/Julius_Katchen/59425
Julius Katchen
Plays
Bartók
Prokofiev
Tracks
Béla Bartók
(1881-1945)
Piano Concerto n° 3 in E major, Sz. 119
1 I. Allegretto 6:43
2 II. Adagio religioso 9:14
3 III. Allegro vivace 7:36
Serguei Prokofiev
(1891-1953)
Piano Concerto n° 3 in C major, Op. 26
4 I. Andante - Allegro 8:27
5 II. Theme and Variations 8:52
6 III. Allegro ma non Troppo 8:34
*
Julius Katchen - p
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Ernest Ansermet - dir.
Recorded at Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland ; October 1953