Gary Graffman

[paul secor]

I've read at least two interviews with Cecil Taylor where he's mentioned that he's been listening to Gary Graffman. I know nothing about Gary Graffman except for the mentions by Mr. Taylor and the fact that his playing career was curtailed by an injury to his right hand.

Any thoughts, opinions, recommendations, non-recommendations, ... ?

[mjzee]

I know nothing about Graffman, but I did notice one of those Sony boxed sets spanning his career. If you'll look at the comments on this Amazon page, you'll soon learn a lot about him: http://www.amazon.com/Gary-Graffman-Complete-Album-Collection/dp/B00C399368/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1426799404&sr=1-1&keywords=gary+graffman+complete+album+collection

[Larry Kart]

Comments from a poster on rec.music.classical.recordings on that Sony Box:

I've just finished listening to the Gary Graffman "Complete Album

Collection." Mostly with great pleasure: I was well acquainted with
about two-thirds of the recordings already from LP days. The album essay
is frank about the limitations placed on Graffman's recorded repertoire:
during both his RCA and his Columbia years, he remained in the shadow of
more prominent (=better-selling?) artists such as Rubinstein, Cliburn,
Horowitz, and Gould.

Nevertheless, his considerable strengths are on display throughout the
collection--superb technique, terrific energy and weight. He has the
fleetness one associates with the post-war Americans but power of one of
the Russians--almost Gilels-like in some works. My wife's response to
the observation was, "Well he was sort of Russian," which is true.

Those who like his general musical approach, as I do, will find few out-
and-out failures here and much to enjoy. My biggest disappointments were
his Brahms "Handel Variations," which I found rushed and brusque
(contrast Fleisher), and some of his "big" Chopin (esp. Scherzo #1),
ditto. OTOH, his Paganini Variations are excellent (if not quite up to
Katchen's) and his op. 27 Nocturnes are lovely, so I won't generalize.
His superb Prokofiev Sonatas ##2 and 3 and Concerti ##1 and 3 made me
yearn for more of same. There should have been cycles of both, but
alas.... His Brahms D-minor Concerto is a classic, but why no B-flat?
(Yeah, I guess I know why). Terrific Schumann Symphonic Etudes and a
surprisingly flexible Carnaval as well. Finally a word in praise of his
Beethoven Sonatas. Only four of them, but they are all excellent,
especially a gorgeous "Waldstein" and an "Appassionata" that is in the
Gilels/Berman class, imo.

Probably everyone here has an opinion about his Rachmaninov w/Bernstein
and his Tchaikovsky w/Ormandy, both very much to my taste although I know
that others have held a contrary view.

[mjzee]

Thanks for that, Larry. I don't mean to hijack this thread, but the mention of Fleisher reminded me about the Fleisher boxed set. Any thoughts on that? (And then back to Graffman.)

[MomsMobley]

Life's too short, world too vast, big music biz nearly always too banal then & now, do yourself a favor by skipping BOTH boxes & buying x # of CDs of new (to you) different repertoire. NONE of the performances by either Graffman or Fleisher or all that compared to best you've already heard elsewhere-- most interesting thing in the Fleisher is actually later one-hand set with the Schmidt & Korngold quintets.

Otherwise, why not the Ahmed Adnan Saygun piano concertos? (There's an excellent two-cd set on CPO)

granted the Busoni is a half-- maybe less-- a warhorse-- a quarterhorse?-- itself but...

it goes places, forwards and back, most of Graff/Fleish don't even suggest-- though they should have.

Edited March 20, 2015 by MomsMobley

[Larry Kart]

Please -- not Hamelin's Busoni PC. Try Gunnar Johansen's.

http://www2.broinc.com/search.php?row=0&brocode=&stocknum=&text=gunnar+busoni&filter=all&submit=Search