Gary Graffman, a famend American pianist, trainer, and administrator, handed away final Saturday, December 27, at his Manhattan dwelling. He was 97.
A baby prodigy, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music on the age of seven, finding out with Isabelle Vengerova. In 1946, he made his skilled debut, showing with conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. After profitable the distinguished Leventritt Competitors in 1949, he studied extensively with Vladimir Horowitz and, through the summers, Rudolf Serkin on the Marlboro Music Competition. Graffman maintained a demanding live performance schedule till the age of fifty, when he was recognized with focal dystonia. The debilitating neurological situation effected the fingers of his proper hand.
Graffman’s consideration shifted to educating and writing. In 1980, he joined the Curtis college, the place his college students included Lang Lang and Yuja Wang. In 1986, Graffman turned the director of Curtis, and in 1995 he turned the varsity’s first president. His memoir, I Actually Ought to Be Practising, was revealed in 1981. Graffman championed Korngold’s uncared for Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, performing the work’s UK premiere in 1985.
Listed below are excerpts from Gary Graffman’s discography:
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Main, Op. 26 (George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra)
Recorded in Cleveland’s Severance Corridor, this standard-setting 1966 recording has been praised for its dramatic energy, virtuosity, and “steely patina.”
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic)
This well-known recording was made for the soundtrack of Woody Allen’s 1979 movie, Manhattan.
