Anthony Goldstone
piano
Described by The New York Times as “a man whose nature was designed with pianos in mind”, ANTHONY GOLDSTONE is recognised as one of Britain’s most respected pianists, a judgment confirmed when the BBC issued his performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto at the London Promenade Concerts in their CD series “Radio Classics”. Born in Liverpool, he studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music (which later honoured him with a Fellowship) where his piano professor was Derrick Wyndham, and later in London with Maria Curcio, one of Schnabel’s greatest pupils – which incidentally made him a sixth-generation pupil of Beethoven. Inspired by this wonderful heritage Goldstone always regarded the classics and romantics as being at the heart of his repertoire; this is illustrated by two specific CD projects: a series of rare Russian Romantics – Rebikov, Lyapunov, Arensky and Glière – and a series of six CDs devoted to the major solo works of Schubert: “Goldstone is a native speaker of Schubert in the highest degree. This is perhaps the greatest version of the work [Sonata, D. 959] I have ever encountered, either live or on disc.” – Fanfare, USA. His series of solo CDs for Divine Art ranged from Beethoven and Mozart to 20th century British composers (all with new completions and rarities) to transcriptions from ballet and opera, all of which have received the highest accolades.
International prizes in Munich and Vienna and a Gulbenkian Fellowship launched him on a busy schedule of recitals and concertos, of which he played eighty. His travels took in concert appearances in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia, prestigious festival invitations and very many broadcasts. Numerous London appearances 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.”
Complementary to the mainstream repertoire was his avid interest in exploring intriguing musical byways – not only unknown works by acknowledged masters, leading to première recordings and performances of Elgar (the Enigma Variations in Elgar’s own piano solo version on Elgar’s own piano), Parry (the Sonatas etc. on Parry’s own piano), Sibelius, Bruch, Franck, Mendelssohn, Holst etc., but also unjustly neglected nineteenth-century composers such as Goetz, Herzogenberg, Alkan and Moscheles. He founded the ensemble The Musicians of the Royal Exchange of which he was pianist/director and which has performed works by over a hundred composers. Finally, he and his wife Caroline Clemmow comprised a prominent 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, (Divine Art DDA 21701) was a world first. When appropriate Goldstone introduced the music he played informally and informatively, considering the rapport he created with his audience to be of major importance.
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.”
Goldstone’s completions and realisations of several works by Schubert and Mozart have been greeted with enthusiasm by musicologists and listeners alike. Sadly, while working with Divine Art on his last solo project, Anthony Goldstone passed away on 2 January, 2017 after a difficult illness.
