Peter Katin

Peter Katin’s recital at Wigmore Hall on 17 July was particularly well planned and played with a mastery that betokened a lifetime’s study of the music involved... It was an extraordinarily memorable recital by this sterling artist, who celebrates reaching 75 this year. Musical Opinion, Sept-Oct 2005

‘He is a pianist who puts the emphasis on playing the music, rather than overburdening it with “interpretation”’. Evening Standard, January 2004 (Wigmore Hall)

‘Katin is an artist of exquisite taste, but every musical detail tells’. Gramophone Awards, November 2004 (Chopin Nocturnes, Olympia OCD 254 A+B)

Born in London, Peter Katin’s musical talent was evident at the age of four, and he was admitted to the senior department of the Royal Academy of Music when he was twelve, four years before the official age of entry. The success of his Wigmore Hall début in 1948 started him on a career that has taken him throughout the world (he was the first British artist to give a post-war solo tour of the then USSR), and in those earlier years he was greatly influenced by his meetings with Clifford Curzon, Claudio Arrau and Myra Hess, who gave him much advice for which he has always been deeply grateful. His early successes seemed centred round the classical composers; he was greatly in demand for Mozart concerto performances in particular and he also developed a rare talent for chamber music.                                                                    

However, a performance of Rachmaninov’s D minor Concerto in 1953 changed his image almost overnight, and hailed as a virtuoso of the first order he was constantly in demand for the most taxing of romantic concertos until the late sixties, but by that time he decided that he needed to make a more in-depth study of the composers who had almost escaped him when he was immersed in the big major works. The first composer in this specialised study was Chopin, and since that time he became regarded as one of the finest interpreters of this composer’s music. He gave his 50th anniversary recital at Wigmore Hall on 13 December 1998, exactly fifty years after his début at the same venue, and on 14 November 2000 he celebrated his seventieth birthday.

His recordings include complete sets of the Mozart Sonatas – here reissued, Chopin Nocturnes and Impromptus, Grieg Lyric Pieces, and Chopin Waltzes and Polonaises; a live performance of a recital including the Liszt Sonata was released in November 1997, to a rave review in Classic CD. In January 2004 he issued a CD of private recordings made throughout his career. His interest in period pianos has resulted in three recordings of Clementi and Schubert on a Clementi square piano of 1832, and a Chopin recording on his own Collard & Collard 1836 square piano.

 As a teacher Peter Katin has had many years of success at the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Thames Valley University, and as a professor at the University of Western Ontario, a post which involved his residence in Canada for six years.

As soloist with many of the world’s major orchestras, Peter Katin has been associated with conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Rudoph Kempe, Eugen Jochum, Jascha Horenstein, John Barbirolli, Colin Davis, Carlo Maria Giulini and nearly one hundred others. He was awarded a Doctorate in 1994.

Peter Katin is the author of several articles, and is currently writing his autobiography. His interest in young talent is matched by his willingness to assist in charitable events and he has always freely given his time to organisations in their efforts to raise funds. His outside interests include the theatre, literature and writing; he has been a keen photographer since childhood, and he is an ardent record collector.