Brailowsky plays Virtuoso Showpieces
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Franz Schubert, Alexander Scriabin, Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy, Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Manuel de Falla, Béla Bartók, Felix Mendelssohn, Maurice Ravel, Sergey Mikhaylovich Lyapunov, Gabriel Fauré, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Sergey Rachmaninov, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Label: Gold Seal
Magazine Review Date: 11/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 156
Mastering:
Stereo
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 09026 68165-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV1004 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
| Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 |
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Boston Symphony Orchestra Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Charles Munch, Conductor |
| (2) Légendes, Movement: No. 1, St Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| (6) Etudes d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini, Movement: A flat minor (La campanella) |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| Valse impromptu |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| (19) Hungarian Rhapsodies, Movement: No. 7 in D minor |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| (3) Liebesträume, Movement: No. 3 in A flat, O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| Mephisto Waltz No. 1, 'Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| (19) Hungarian Rhapsodies, Movement: No. 2 in C sharp minor |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| (6) Etudes d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini, Movement: E (La chasse) |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Liszt, Composer |
| (12) Studies, 'Études d'exécution transcendent, Movement: B minor, 'Lesghinka' |
Sergey Mikhaylovich Lyapunov, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Sergey Mikhaylovich Lyapunov, Composer |
| (5) Impromptus, Movement: No. 2 in F minor, Op. 31 (1883) |
Gabriel Fauré, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Gabriel Fauré, Composer |
| Jeux d'eau |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| (La) Plus que lente |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Claude Debussy, Composer |
| Children's Corner, Movement: Serenade for a doll |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Claude Debussy, Composer |
| Gaspard de la nuit, Movement: Ondine |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| (El) Amor brujo, Movement: Ritual Fire Dance |
Manuel de Falla, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Manuel de Falla, Composer |
| Rondo a capriccio, 'Rage over a lost penny' |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
| Impromptus, Movement: No. 3 in G flat |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Franz Schubert, Composer |
| (48) Songs without Words, Movement: No. 4, Presto in C, 'Spinnerlied: The Bee's Wedding' |
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Felix Mendelssohn, Composer |
| (3) Fantaisies (or caprices), Movement: Scherzo in E minor |
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Felix Mendelssohn, Composer |
| Rondo capriccioso |
Felix Mendelssohn, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Felix Mendelssohn, Composer |
| (16) Waltzes, Movement: No. 15 in A flat |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (7) Morceaux de salon, Movement: No. 2 in A, Valse |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer |
| Allegro barbaro |
Béla Bartók, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Béla Bartók, Composer |
| (The) Tale of Tsar Saltan, Movement: Flight of the bumble-bee |
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Composer |
| (12) Etudes, Movement: No. 12 in D sharp minor |
Alexander Scriabin, Composer
Alexander Brailowsky, Piano Alexander Scriabin, Composer |
Author: Bryce Morrison
Brailowsky (1896-1976) invites a subdivided estimate, one which can leave the reader bewildered, devoid of a sense of clarity or direction. For the truth is that Brailowsky – for many years a firm audience favourite, particularly in his adopted America – was wildly inconsistent, could charm the birds out of the trees one minute and lapse into banality and strenuousness the next. Certainly RCA’s oddly named programme (in what sense are Schubert’s G flat Impromptu or Debussy’s La plus que lente ‘virtuoso showpieces’?) of discs dating from 1938-58 is true to form, a strange mix of failure and success.
In the Liszt items Brailowsky’s bony-fingered articulation and poetic indifference make short work of a charming trifle such as theValse-Impromptu while in the First Legende, Saint Francis’s companions chirrup and twitter with little regard for their devotional setting. The Third Liebestraum is more engaging, even when it suggests the arduousness rather than the holiness of the heart’s affections, but the First Mephisto Waltz pushes Brailowsky beyond his limit, affording the listener the dubious thrill of watching a man about to go under. Here, the nightingales battle with sore throats (4'44'') and the final octave uproar becomes as musical as shovelling snow. So where are the successes? Certainly not in French music. Brailowsky was no Faurean (the Second Impromptu is bruisingly inarticulate) or Ravelian (that rigid four beats in a bar in Jeux d’eau or his chaotic approximation to the notes in the concluding rapide et brillant outburst of “Ondine”). But Saint-Saens’s Fourth Concerto is better, with a photo-finish of genuine virtuoso glitter and propulsion while in the Bach/Busoni Chaconne, Brailowsky finds the sort of honesty, strength and exultance that so often brought audiences to their feet during his heyday. Again, you won’t encounter the finesse of, say, Michelangeli (finessse and Brailowsky are, for the most part, separable commodities) but you will hear a gritty determination and some of that quality which once led Abram Chasins to declare Brailowsky not a musician’s pianist or a pianist’s pianist, but a “people’s pianist”.
The recordings range from the dry and constricted to a startlingly full-blooded sound. Both discs are of considerable curiosity value, though if you want to hear Brailowsky at his most consistent I would suggest you try his APR recital which I reviewed in August 1994.'
In the Liszt items Brailowsky’s bony-fingered articulation and poetic indifference make short work of a charming trifle such as the
The recordings range from the dry and constricted to a startlingly full-blooded sound. Both discs are of considerable curiosity value, though if you want to hear Brailowsky at his most consistent I would suggest you try his APR recital which I reviewed in August 1994.'
Brailowsky plays Virtuoso Showpieces
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