Born in Liverpool, he studied at the Royal Manchester College
of Music, where his piano professor was Derrick Wyndham and, later, in London
with Maria Curcio, one of Schnabel’s greatest pupils, making him a
sixth-generation pupil of Beethoven. International prizes in Munich and Vienna
and a Gulbenkian Fellowship launched him on a busy schedule of recitals and
concertos. His travels have taken in concert appearances in Europe, North and
South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia, with prestigious festival
invitations and very many broadcasts. Numerous London appearances have included
important solo recitals and Promenade Concerts, notably the Last Night, after
which Benjamin Britten wrote to him, ‘Thank you most sincerely for that
brilliant performance of my Diversions. I wish I could have been at the Royal
Albert Hall to join in the cheers.’
Goldstone has always regarded the classics and romantics as
being at the heart of his repertoire, a view that is illustrated by two past
recording projects, firstly a series on the Divine Art label of rare Russian
Romantics including Rebikov, Lyapunov, Arensky, Glière and Mussorgsky; and
secondly a series of six CDs on the Divine Art label devoted to the major solo
works of Schubert.
Complementary to the mainstream repertoire is his interest
in exploring intriguing musical byways, leading to première recordings and
performances such as Elgar’s Enigma Variations played on Elgar’s own piano,
Parry on Parry’s own piano, Sibelius, Bruch, Franck, Mendelssohn and Holst as
well as unjustly neglected nineteenth-century composers such as Goetz,
Herzogenberg, Alkan and Moscheles.
In addition, Anthony Goldstone and his wife Caroline Clemmow
www.divine-art.co.uk/AS/goldstoneclemmow.htm
comprise an acclaimed piano duo whose
recordings, broadcasts and concert appearances receive wide praise from public
and critics alike. Their acclaimed seven-CD cycle of the complete original
four-hand music of Schubert, including works not found in the collected
edition, is probably a world first. Goldstone’s completions and realisations of
several works by Schubert and Mozart have been greeted with enthusiasm by
musicologists and listeners alike.
Royal Manchester College of Music have honoured Anthony Goldstone
with a Fellowship and, following a recital containing Schubert’s
Wanderer-Fantasie and Beethoven’s Diabelli-Variations, Die Presse of Vienna
wrote of him, ‘…a musician with a sense of the grand manner, long lines
unfolding without interruption, strongly hewn rhythms, warmth, a touch
displaying the qualities of colour and cantabile, in addition to possessing a
sure technique and real strength. An even greater impression was created by his
astonishingly profound spiritual penetration.’
Somehow I managed to
miss a 2013 release from Divine Art Records www.divine-art.co.uk that reveals many of these attributes, entitled
Tchaikovsky Rare Transcriptions and Paraphrases
Volume Two, a disc that contains a number of premiere recordings.
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Pianist, conductor and composer Alexander Siloti (1863-1945) was a fine pianist, having studied
with Liszt. He was also a first cousin and teacher of Sergei Rachmaninov. With
his transcription of Act III of The
Sleeping Beauty there is a clarifying of all of Tchaikovsky’s lines
especially as played here. In the March Goldstone
reveals this clarity with wonderful articulation. Polacca draws much feeling from this pianist, shining a new light
on this music and exposing many subtleties of harmony. The Pas de quatre: Allegro, Variations I – IV and Coda has a nicely
shaped Allegro and some beautifully
crisp playing in the variations before the lovely little coda played to
perfection.
Pas de caractère: Le
Chat botté et la Chatte blanche receives a beautifully characterised
performance with lovely phrasing and subtly building in intensity as it
progresses. Goldstone draws out so much personality from the music. Pas de quatre: Adagio – Variations I and II
– Coda opens with lovely little rhythms as the right hand figuration dances
over the repeated left hand chords; the central, more flowing theme so
affectingly played. It is Goldstone’s phrasing and sense of form that gives
such clarity. The two variations bring a lovely dance theme for Cinderella and Prince
Charming, followed by the skittish little second variation. The charming Coda has a slight dissonance that one
wouldn’t notice in the orchestral setting – almost Satie like. Goldstone has
the ability to characterise these pieces so well.
Another Pas de
caractère follows, Chaperon rouge et
le Loup where, again, those dissonances are brought out with fine control
of dynamics in the concluding passages. A buoyant Pas de berrichon with a terrific ending is followed by the
languorous Pas de deux: Entrée. Then
follows the Pas de deux: Adagio and two
variations and Coda. The beautiful Adagio
is given an exquisite performance here with its halting phrases holding back
the emotions. Goldstone builds the music to its central climax to perfection.
The galloping Variation I is followed
by delicate crisp playing of the second
variation and the cross rhythms of the Coda,
with spectacularly fine playing form Goldstone. Before the Finale and Apothéoso there is a reserved and stately Sarabande. The Finale is full of joyful exuberant dance rhythms before a dashing
coda that nevertheless has many subtle shadings. The Apothéoso has at times a
Mussorgskian flavour which again shows, in the right hands, how revelatory this
transcription can be.
These are extremely difficult transcriptions to bring off
without the cover of orchestral clothing and that Goldstone does so in such
brilliant fashion is a testament to his musicianship.
Paraphrase on Waltz
of the Flowers from The Nutcracker – Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
Grainger gives this the romantic concerto treatment in the
opening, yet for all his flamboyance he does create subtleties that are brought
out here. For Goldstone, Grainger’s massive chords present no problem and, when
the famous waltz eventually appears in its pretty conventional treatment by
Grainger, there are still huge chords to manage. This is impressive playing
with Goldstone creating some rich sounds in the huge chords and some lovely
Lisztian little flights of fancy.
This performance is an absolute triumph.
Finally we come to Nikolai
Kashkin’s (1839-1920) transcription of
Swan Lake: Pas de trois (Act I) another professor at the Moscow
Conservatory. Goldstone creates a gorgeous pianistic flow in the Intrada, such a surge in the opening. The gently withdrawn Andante Sostenuto has so
many subtleties and lovely gentle rhythms, lovingly played. There is a crisp
dancing Allegro semplice – Presto
full of charm and a bell like Moderato,
so very Russian. The Allegro is light
and vivacious and leads to lively rhythmic
Coda that hides some pretty dexterous notes played brilliantly to end this
disc.
With an excellent recording and informative booklet notes by
Anthony Goldstone lovers of Tchaikovsky and Russian music in general will want
this disc.
See also:
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