Brahms: Piano Sonata No 3; 2 Pieces, Op 76; 5 Hungarian Dances [Import]

The A minor intermezzo from the op 76 set was next, and I was struck again by the natural instinct this player has for this composer, as I had been when I heard him in the op 116 set on a disc he had done 10 years or more previously. I remembered comparing his accounts with those of Katchen in his great omnibus Brahms set, and I remembered on balance rating Kissin better. This prompted me to remind myself how Katchen handled the sonata, and that was when I got something of a shock. The recorded sound Katchen was given was good in its time, but not even distantly comparable to Kissin's with its tremendous resonant low registers. All the same, it was quite good enough for me to realise that Katchen's despatch of the opening bars, and indeed of the whole first movement, was every bit as virtuosic and commanding as Kissin's. I found the same in the scherzo, and I found the same again in the finale. What was more, I found a marked similarity in the interpretations, and where they differed, notably at the end of the first movement where Kissin delivers a `triumphant conclusion' (Beethoven-style presumably) as specified in the liner note and Katchen gives me something I found more distinctively Brahmsian, I found myself tending to prefer Katchen. This impression was reinforced in the two slow sections. Good as Kissin is in the main andante, there is more inwardness from Katchen. Moreover to my surprise I even found Katchen more effective in some minor technical aspects, notably better definition in the trills and a more even delivery of the drumming repeated left-hand phrases in the Ruckblick.

The famous B minor capriccio is excellent, the speed fastish like Backhaus although predictably more flexible, not slowish as in Rubinstein's very striking reading. It leads in the 5 Hungarian dances, apparently favourite encores of Kissin's. These are less to my taste. Kissin changes his style of playing here, and I find him a bit too excitable. The changes of speed are right up to a point, but I have actually heard a Hungarian dance played (and introduced) by Brahms himself and it was a bit more sober than this approach. Kissin departs, I can only suppose deliberately, from his previous rhythmic finesse and pecks at the rhythm in a way I can't really get on with, particularly in the second and fourth of his selection - I heard Rattle give the former as an encore in the orchestrated version and it was another experience entirely.

This has to be a 5-star issue because the performance of the sonata is simply prodigious. The last recital disc I bought by Kissin was when he was 20 years old or less, and then I hoped and expected to find in him the special kind of individuality that I find in, say, Horowitz, Serkin, Michelangeli, Richter, Cziffra, Gould and Ogdon. Maybe I yet shall.

It seems Kissin has reached a crossroad. I was somewhat suprised by the way he played this sonata. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was no less Delightful. I was drooling when I poped this disc into my cd player, awaiting the euphoria brought about by kissins virtuosity. Instead I got a deep introverted interpretation that seemed to reflect kissins true personality.
I Highly recomend this disc to anyone who likes a deep passionate musical expirience. And for those of you who like the firey technique and amazing control of Kissin, this disc is for you, on account of the encores as well as the sonata. WOW!