Abstract: The research object is the performance art of a well-known Saratov musician Anatoly Katz (1936-2017), who was one of the brightest representatives of not only Saratov piano art, but the music culture of the entire region. The research subject is the theatre and play aspect of Katz’s interpretation considered through the example of R. Schumann’s “Coloured Leaves”, op.99. The purpose of the research is to define the techniques of music and play theatricalization in A. Katz’s art of interpretation. The author analyzes the role of a theatre and play component in the performance activity of the Saratov pianist, his attitude to the process of interpretation and play as a special type of creative thinking. The author uses the historical and art review methods, the culturological and comparative methods which help to detect the prerequisites of formation of Katz’s performance style, his views on interpretation and the mechanisms of cooperation of a composer and a performer. For the comparative analysis, the author uses the recordings of Schumann’s “Coloured leaves” made by other well-known pianists: V. Ashkenazy, V. Sofronitsky, S. Richter. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that it is the first attempt to take a scientific approach to A. Katz’s art of interpretation using R. Schumann’s music. The research shows that the theatre and play aspect to a great extent defines the direction of Katz’ s creative process, and differs it from other similar interpretations. The characteristic feature of Katz as an interpreter is his focus on cooperation with a composer, search for an individual interpretation, rethinking of the original composition. It results in a “director’s” approach to composing the cycle, increase of contrast between the parts and within each of them, fantasy and personification of images, active use of agogics and, consequently, focused attention to particular details of the composition.