History is repeating itself. They're back (thankfully)!
As a long-time LP (long-play) record collector, among the legendary RCA Victor artists I amassed included pianist Gary Graffman [b. 1928]. While Graffman didn't produce on disc the quantity of a Casadesus, Horowitz or Rubinstein, he was highly respected and known for his supreme artistry and musicianship. Graffman also recorded for Columbia Records. At this time, around 1950 through 1975 or thereabouts, these two record labels were considered the absolute patrician of labels in the USA.
The following were some of Gary Graffman's superb RCA Victor long-play recordings:
•LSC-2304 : Chopin: Ballades (all 4); Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise [Now on Sony 68288]
•LSC-2274 : Brahms: Piano Concerto #1 in D Minor, Op. 15 w/Boston Symphony Orchestra; Charles Munch, conductor [Now on Sony 68284]
•LSC-2468 : Chopin: Piano Concerto #1 in E Minor, Op. 11; Mendelssohn: Capriccio Brillant, Op. 22 w/Boston Symphony Orchestra; Charles Munch, conductor [Now on Sony 68285]
•LSC-2443 : "The Virtuoso Liszt" - Paganini/Liszt: 6 Etudes; Liebestraum in A-flat, Op. 62/3; Etude #3 in D-flat Major ("Un Sospiro"); Hungarian Rhapsody #11 in A Minor; Years of Pilgrimage-Italy, No. 2 "Il Penserosos"; Consolation #3 in D-flat Major [Now on Sony 68287]
All of the above discs have been released and are distributed by ArkivMusic under license of BMG-Sony; they are not reissues by RCA or Sony Classical themselves. Prices run $16-$18 per disc. Near as I can determine, they are issued with original notes and front cover artwork. Whatever process is used by ArkivMusic, the replication of inserts and even the discs themselves are about as close as one can get to an original release by the original manufacturer. My first listen was to Graffman's outstanding "Virtuoso Liszt" disc. The first thing you will observe in, especially, all the works except the Paganini/Liszt Etudes, is the extraneous noise ... street noise, cars, buses, etc., noise that was not immediately apparent in the original RCA stereo LP issues. There is even some cable hum here and there. The digital process has cleaned up the general sound making it more realistic than ever before and augments it with the noises of the City of New York! The art of Graffman, however, always shines through. He had the ability to communicate great music-making but without making it sound like work. I always personally marveled at the excellent balance between his right- and left hands.
Graffman will be 82 years young in October 2010, and has served music well. Like his friend, Leon Fleisher, Graffman, too, suffered problems with his hands [focal dystonia], but he would always teach, or administrate, like he has done at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Pa. for so long following in the footsteps of several other well known musicians and performers. Graffman's malady put a damper on his international (and national) career somewhat so that a generation or two preceding us would never know about his art. Thanks to these reissues, Graffman's name can once again be in the forefront of great pianism in the second half of the twentieth century. •
