Poster for 1942 concert tour of North and South America

Alexander Brailowsky (16 February 1896 - 25 April 1976) was a Russian pianist who specialized in the works of Frédéric Chopin. He achieved most of his fame between the two world wars. February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The only known photograph of Frédéric Chopin (commonly mistaken for a daguerrotype), taken by Louis-Auguste Bisson in 1849. ...

Brailowsky was born in Kiev, (although some sources suggest he was Polish) and later became a French citizen in 1926. Location Map of Ukraine with Kyiv highlighted. ...

He made his concert debut in Paris in 1919. His first recordings were done in Berlin from 1928 to 1934 (78 rpm discs). In 1938 he recorded in London for HMV. Later discs were produced for RCA Victor and finally in the 1960’s, for CBS. Besides his huge output of Chopin, he also included in his repertoire Rachmaninoff, Saint Saens, Liszt, Debussy and others. Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, also Sergey Rachmaninov or Serge Rakhmaninov (Серге́й Васи́льевич Рахма́нинов), (April 1, 1873 – March 28, 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist... Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (IPA: [ʃaʁl. ... Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a virtuoso pianist and composer. ... Claude Debussy Claude Achille Debussy (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918), composer of impressionistic classical music. ...

Brailowsky gave the first complete Chopin cycle in history in Paris in 1924, using the composer’s own piano for part of the recital. He then went on to present a further thirty recitals of Chopin’s music, including New York in 1938 and then in Paris, Brussels, Zurich, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. In 1960 he decided to repeat the cycles in Brussels and Paris, although his playing by now was past its best, but none-the-less, still delivered some superb nuances and an overall mastery.

Alexander Brailowsky died in New York aged 80, of complications brought on by pneumonia.

External links

• All Music