| Biography | Julius Katchen (August 15, 1926 April 29, 1969) was an American concert pianist, possibly best known for his recordings of Johannes Brahms's solo piano compositions.
Katchen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and debuted at age 10, playing Mozart's D minor Concerto. Eugene Ormandy heard of his debut, and invited him to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York. He studied music with his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Svet, immigrants from Europe who had taught at the Moscow and Warsaw conservatories, until he was 14. He attended Haverford College, completing a four-year degree in philosophy in three years, graduating first in his class in 1946.He went to Paris and was invited to represent the United States at the first International UNESCO Festival, where he played Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française. He then toured Europe in the spring of 1947, playing recitals in Rome, Venice, Naples, Paris, London and Salzburg.
In the late 1960s he recorded the Brahms trios for Decca with Josef Suk and János Starker.
In December 1968, Katchen played at a two-day show in London hosted by the Rolling Stones. Katchen played two works (one of them de Falla's Ritual Fire Dance). His last public appearance was with the London Symphony Orchestra on December 12, 1968, playing Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand. He succumbed to cancer the next spring and died at the age of 42 at his home in Paris. |