DGG LP: Vronsky-Babin - Chopin, Liszt, Schubert, etc-NM

$

100

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Background on this eBay item -

Vronsky & Babin were regarded by many as one of the foremost duo-piano teams of the twentieth century. Vitya Vronsky (Viktoria Mikhailovna Vronskaya, 22 August 1909 – 28 June 1992) was born in Yevpatoria (then part of the Russian Empire now part of Ukraine). Victor Babin (Viktor Genrikhovich Babin, 13 December 1908 – 1 March 1972) was born in Moscow, Russia. They both died in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Vronsky graduated from the Kiev Conservatory at the age of 13 and began a brilliant concert career as a soloist. In Berlin in 1933 while she was studying with Artur Schnabel (she also studied in Paris with Alfred Cortot and Egon Petri), she met another of Schnabel's students (who also studied composition with Franz Schreker), her future husband Victor Babin.

Soon thereafter they formed the duo piano team of Vronsky & Babin, once described by Newsweek magazine as "the most brilliant two-piano team of our generation", and embarked on a career as duo pianists that took them all over the world.

Vronsky & Babin were introduced to American audiences through their recordings of the piano music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, who became their friend and mentor. Their recordings were issued by RCA Victor, Columbia, Decca and EMI. Despite a break from performance during World War II during which Babin served in the Armed Forces and Vronsky worked with war casualties in Washington, D.C. hospitals, the duo still managed to perform over 1,200 concerts in North America alone. In 1961, Babin became Director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where both he and Vronsky served on the Institute's faculty.

Victor Babin also composed a Concerto for Two Pianos, which is in the repertoire of the Contiguglia brothers, Variations on a Theme of Purcell (cello and piano), Hillandale Waltzes (8 waltz movements on a theme by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, clarinet and piano), a song cycle Beloved Stranger, chamber music, as well as arrangements for two pianos of Stravinsky's Tango and the Waltz from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. His other works included a Capriccio for orchestra, a Konzertstück for violin and orchestra, a string quartet, a Sonata-Fantasia for cello and piano, the solo piano works Fantasia, Aria and Capriccio and Deux Mouvements dansantes, and for two pianos, he wrote Six Studies, Three Fantasies on Old Themes, and Three March Rhythms.

Babin died in 1972, and Vronsky continued to teach and perform until her death in 1992.

Vronsky was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Humanities by the French government in 1972 and served as a judge for the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition. Babin was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico.  

• DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON GESELLSCHAFT (DGG) LP - "YELLOW" record labels with "RED & BLUE" lettering. Has some gold lettering encircling the label as well. The record has the famous blue and white tulips encircling the outer rim of the record labels.

• LP was pressed in GERMANY
  

• Pressing is in MONO

• LP issued in November 1962 - super heavy vinyl LP

• Record Catalog Number: LPEM 19 182 Hi-Fi
  

Extremely rare, this is a much sought after LP featuring the music of:

Chopin, Schubert, Liszt & Milhaud

Performing -

• Chopin: Rondo fur 2 Claviere C-dur Op. 73
• Schubert: Fantasie f-moll Op. 103
• Liszt: Concerto pathetique e-moll
• Milhaud: Scaramouche (suite) - Vif, Modere & Brazileira

Performed by -

• Vitya Vronsky & Victor Babin, pianos (Klavier-Duo)
  

CONDITION Details:

LP JACKET:

• The LP jacket is in Excellent plus condition.

• These early DGG jackets were usually made of flimsy paper. As such, over time, they wear easily, especially if handled to any extent. Although this is of the flimsy paper variety, the jacket seems to be almost completely intact. There is some shelf wear evident, primarily with respect to  and seams and corners. Not a pristine cover, but very nice nonetheless.  

• It has NO drill holes or saw marks of any kind on the jacket. 
  

• There is NO hand writing on the front or back of the jacket. The front has some paint lifted off where a price sticker or two once were located.

• The cover has clean and sharp colors, just gorgeous - see picture with this listing for more detail. 

• The LP is in near MINT minus condition! - it is super heavy and in great condition.
  

• It retains much of the original gloss and sheen!
  

• The record has no serious marks, obviously well taken care of - just a couple of light marks that we feel did not affect the playing and enjoyment of the record in any way.
  

• There are NO significant spindle marks on the record labels that we could see, just a couple of light ones.
  

• This is the near mint copy you have always wanted in your collection - any picky audiophile should be happy with this one! A better copy would be very difficult to locate!
  

• This LP may have a slight mark or two (spider marks) which are caused by sliding the LP in and out of the inner sleeve and are usually not audible on most audio systems - as for any record, we recommend a cleaning before playing!

A Short Note About LP GRADING -

• Mint = Only used for sealed items.
• Near Mint = Virtually flawless in every way.
• Near Mint Minus = Item has some minor imperfections, some audible.
• Excellent = Item obviously played and enjoyed with some noise.
• Very Good Plus = Many more imperfections which are noticeable and obtrusive.