I Really Should Be Practicing

By Gary Graffman

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038515559X
• ISBN13: 9780385155595
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.27 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A musical star tells his story

In this autobiography Gary Graffman not only chronicles his own musical career but puts the reader in close touch with many of the major figures of the classical musical world. Graffman tells the story of how his family left Russia and how he made his way in America to the concert stage. His tells vivid anecdotes about many of the musical greats including Horowitz who was his teacher, Stravinsky, Rubinstein and Van Cliburn. He brings us into unusual places in the musical world such as the Steinway establishment on the West Side of New York where the great concert pianists came to acquire their instruments. Graffman writes with a somewhat self- celebratory tone and gives the sense that all he was involved in was quite wonderful. Later in his career he came down unfortunately with a debilitating injury which made it impossible to use his right hand. Several composers then wrote works for 'left hand only'. This autobiography does not however reach that point but finishes with him still at the top of the heap after a successful tour of his parent's former homeland.