Sony Classical is pleased to announce the first release of Alexander Brailowsky's complete RCA Victor recordings, many of them never before available in the digital medium. Born in 1896 in Kiev, Brailowsky studied at the conservatory in his native city, which was then part of the Russian empire. In 1911, he went to Vienna to become a pupil of the legendary Theodor Leschetizky, who taught many of the 20th century's outstanding pianists, including Artur Schnabel. During World War I Brailowsky also studied with Busoni in Switzerland and in 1919 he made his debut in Paris. Five years later came his first appearance in New York where he settled, then making regular coast-to-coast tours of North America while continuing to visit Europe. There was one composer with whom Alexander Brailowsky was associated throughout his career - and has remained associated through recordings since his death in 1976: Frederic Chopin. Brailowsky was the first pianist to present Chopin's entire 169 solo works as a cycle, performing this feat before capacity audiences in New York, Brussels, Zurich, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Paris. At the end of his 1938 Chopin series in New York, one reviewer noted that "there are few enough pianists who have the prodigious memory, the physical strength, the comprehensive technique required for such an undertaking; there are far fewer who have - plus all these - the requisite musicianship. Mr. Brailowsky is one of these latter few." Not surprisingly, Sony Classical's new comprehensive reissue of Brailowsky's RCA albums largely comprises music by Chopin. Both piano concertos are included - No. 1 with William Steinberg conducting the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra in 1949 and No. 2 with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1954. High Fidelity later wrote of these two performances: "Brailowsky's energetically contoured, sharply etched clarity represents an emerging modernity of outlook that points to present-day Chopin players." The set also features Brailowsky's two traversals of the Waltzes, as well as his complete recordings of the etudes, Preludes and Nocturnes, plus Sonatas Nos. 2 and 3 and the ecossaises and Berceuse. Of Brailowsky's Nocturnes recording, Gramophone's reviewer wrote: "He could sing beautifully at the keyboard. His nocturnes as a whole have a touching humanity and simplicity... The mono RCA sound is quite velvety."
1-1 Waltz In E-flat Major “Grande Valse Brillante” Op. 18 4:32 3 Waltzes Op. 34 1-2 No. 1 In A-flat Major. Vivace 4:38 1-3 No. 2 In A Minor. Lento 6:14 1-4 Waltz In A-flat Major Op. 42 3:48 3 Waltzes Op. 34 1-5 No. 3 In F Major. Vivace 2:17 3 Waltzes Op. 64 1-6 No. 1 In D-flat Major “Minute” 1:47 1-7 No. 2 In C-sharp Minor. Tempo Giusto 3:29 1-8 No. 3 In A-flat Major. Moderato 2:57 2 Waltzes Op. Posth. 69 1-9 No. 1 In A-flat Major. Lento 4:54 1-10 No. 2 In B Minor. Moderato 3:44 3 Waltzes Op. Posth. 70 1-11 No. 1 In G-flat Major. Molto Vivace 2:16 1-12 No. 2 In F Minor. Tempo Giusto 3:11 1-13 No. 3 In D-flat Major. Moderato 3:12 1-14 Waltz In E Minor Kk Iva/15 2:43 1-15 Impromptu No. 1 In A-flat Major Op. 29 4:35 1-16 Nocturne In F-sharp Major Op. 15/2 3:31 1-17 Impromptu In C-sharp Minor “Fantaisie-Impromptu” Op. Posth. 66 5:01 1-18 Nocturne In E-flat Major Op. 9/2 4:27 1-19 Nocturne In D-flat Major Op. 27/2 5:13 Chopin Etudes 12 Études Op. 10 2-1 No. 1 In C Major. Allegro 2:04 2-2 No. 10 In A-flat Major. Vivace Assai 2:10 2-3 No. 2 In A Minor. Allegro 1:24 2-4 No. 7 In C Major. Vivace 1:32 2-5 No. 3 In E Major. Lento Ma Non Troppo 4:03 2-6 No. 4 In C-sharp Minor. Presto 2:09 2-7 No. 9 In F Minor. Allegro Molto Agitato 2:05 2-8 No. 5 In G-flat Major “Black Keys” 1:37 2-9 No. 6 In E-flat Minor. Andante 2:57 2-10 No. 8 In F Major. Allegro 2:15 2-11 No. 11 In E-flat Major. Allegretto 2:14 2-12 No. 12 In C Minor “Revolutionary” 2:34 12 Études Op. 25 2-13 No. 1 In A-flat Major. Allegro Sostenuto 1:58 2-14 No. 12 In C Minor. Molto Allegro, Con Fuoco 2:19 2-15 No. 2 In F Minor. Presto 1:21 2-16 No. 3 In F Major. Allegro 1:53 2-17 No. 4 In A Minor. Agitato 1:47 2-18 No. 8 In D-flat Major “Sixths”. Vivace 1:11 2-19 No. 5 In E Minor. Vivace 2:44 2-20 No. 6 In G-sharp Minor “Thirds” 2:03 2-21 No. 9 In G-flat Major “Butterfly” 0:59 2-22 No. 7 In C-sharp Minor. Lento 4:58 2-23 No. 10 In B Minor “Octaves” 3:28 2-24 No. 11 In A Minor “Winter Wind” 3:38 3 Nouvelles Études Kk Iib/3 2-25 No. 1 In F Minor. Andantino 1:47 2-26 No. 2 In A-flat Major. Allegretto 1:41 2-27 No. 3 In D-flat Major. Allegretto 1:37 Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 1 In E Minor Op. 11 3-1 I Allegro Maestoso. Risoluto 16:34 3-2 II Romance. Larghetto 9:33 3-3 III Rondo. Vivace 9:32 Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 2 In F Minor Op. 21 3-4 I Maestoso 12:04 3-5 II Larghetto 8:56 3-6 III Allegro Vivace 8:28 Chopin Waltzes 4-1 Waltz In E-flat Major “Grande Valse Brillante” Op. 18 4:40 3 Waltzes Op. 34 4-2 No. 1 In A-flat Major. Vivace 5:09 4-3 No. 2 In A Minor. Lento 6:09 4-4 No. 3 In F Major. Vivace 2:24 2 Waltzes Op. Posth. 69 4-5 No. 1 In A-flat Major. Lento 4:59 4-6 No. 2 In B Minor. Moderato 3:43 3 Waltzes Op. 64 4-7 No. 1 In D-flat Major “Minute” 1:51 4-8 No. 2 In C-sharp Minor. Tempo Giusto 3:29 4-9 No. 3 In A-flat Major. Moderato 3:05 4-10 Waltz In A-flat Major Op. 42 3:47 3 Waltzes Op. Posth. 70 4-11 No. 1 In G-flat Major. Molto Vivace 2:10 4-12 No. 2 In F Minor. Tempo Giusto 2:54 4-13 No. 3 In D-flat Major. Moderato 3:18 4-14 Waltz In E Minor Kk IV A/15 2:25 Chopin Preludes 24 Préludes Op. 28 5-1 No. 1 In C Major. Agitato 0:36 5-2 No. 2 In A Minor. Lento 1:36 5-3 No. 3 In G Major. Vivace 0:56 5-4 No. 4 In E Minor. Largo 1:57 5-5 No. 5 In D Major. Allegro Molto 0:35 5-6 No. 6 In B Minor. Lento Assai 1:51 5-7 No. 7 In A Major. Andantino 0:41 5-8 No. 8 In F-sharp Minor. Molto Agitato 1:55 5-9 No. 9 In E Major. Largo 1:27 5-10 No. 10 In C-sharp Minor. Allegro Molto 0:29 5-11 No. 11 In B Major. Vivace 0:33 5-12 No. 12 In G-sharp Minor. Presto 1:18 5-13 No. 13 In F-sharp Major. Lento 2:46 5-14 No. 14 In E-flat Minor. Allegro 0:29 5-15 No. 15 In D-flat Major. Sostenuto 4:45 5-16 No. 16 In B-flat Minor. Presto Con Fuoco 1:13 5-17 No. 17 In A-flat Major. Allegretto 3:20 5-18 No. 18 In F Minor. Allegro Molto 0:51 5-19 No. 19 In E-flat Major. Vivace 1:09 5-20 No. 20 In C Minor. Largo 1:28 5-21 No. 21 In B-flat Major. Cantabile 1:36 5-22 No. 22 In G Minor. Molto Agitato 0:48 5-23 No. 23 In F Major. Moderato 0:51 5-24 No. 24 In D Minor. Allegro Appassionato 2:32 Piano Sonata No. 3 In B Minor Op. 58 5-25 I Allegro Maestoso 9:02 5-26 II Scherzo. Molto Vivace 2:13 5-27 III Largo 7:52 5-28 IV Finale. Presto Non Tanto 4:36 5-29 Berceuse In D-flat Major Op. 57 4:27 3 Écossaises Op. Posth. 72/3 5-30 No. 1 In D Major 1:26 5-31 No. 2 In G Major 0:41 5-32 No. 3 In D-flat Major 0:59 Chopin Sonatas Piano Sonata No. 2 In B-flat Minor Op. 35 6-1 I Grave – Doppio Movimento 5:04 6-2 II Scherzo – Più Lento – Tempo I 5:19 6-3 III Marche Funèbre. Lento 7:00 6-4 IV Finale. Presto 1:30 Piano Sonata No. 3 In B Minor Op. 58 6-5 I Allegro Maestoso 8:34 6-6 II Scherzo. Molto Vivace 2:16 6-7 III Largo 7:27 6-8 IV Finale. Presto Non Tanto 4:37 Chopin Nocturnes Vol. 1 3 Nocturnes Op. 9 7-1 No. 1 In B-flat Minor. Larghetto 5:35 7-2 No. 2 In E-flat Major. Andante 4:34 7-3 No. 3 In B Major. Allegretto 7:01 3 Nocturnes Op. 15 7-4 No. 1 In F Major. Andante Cantabile 4:30 7-5 No. 2 In F-sharp Major. Larghetto 3:41 7-6 No. 3 In G Minor. Lento 4:16 2 Nocturnes Op. 27 7-7 No. 1 In C-sharp Minor. Larghetto 5:18 7-8 No. 2 In D-flat Major. Lento Sostenuto 5:20 2 Nocturnes Op. 32 7-9 No. 1 In B Major. Andante Sostenuto 5:10 7-10 No. 2 In A-flat Major. Lento 5:17 Chopin Nocturnes Vol. 2 2 Nocturnes Op. 37 8-1 No. 1 In G Minor. Andante Sostenuto 6:14 8-2 No. 2 In G Major. Andantino 6:07 2 Nocturnes Op. 48 8-3 No. 1 In C Minor. Lento 6:26 8-4 No. 2 In F-sharp Minor. Andantino 6:36 2 Nocturnes Op. 55 8-5 No. 1 In F Minor. Andante 4:47 8-6 No. 2 In E-flat Major. Lento Sostenuto 4:13 2 Nocturnes Op. 62 8-7 No. 1 In B Major. Andante 6:46 8-8 No. 2 In E Major. Lento 5:36 8-9 Nocturne In E Minor Op. Posth. 72/1 3:49 3 Écossaises Op. Posth. 72/3 8-10 No. 1 In D Major. Vivace 1:21 8-11 No. 2 In G Major 0:34 8-12 No. 3 In D-flat Major 1:03 8-13 Berceuse In D-flat Major Op. 57
