Description

Robert Goldsand (Vienna, 1911–Connecticut, 1991) entered the Vienna Academy of Music at around age six and made his recital debut four years later at ten. Later, Goldsand studied with Moriz Rosenthal and Emil Sauer. He launched his US career in 1927 and played regularly in New York from the 1940s onward. Among pianists active in the twentieth century, few could boast of a repertoire as varied and extensive as Goldsand’s. He died at age eighty in 1991.

Goldsand’s pianism was characterized by a remarkable range in tone color, an unusual degree of interpretative freedom, and a complete command of the instrument. At times he would follow the letter of the text scrupulously, while at others he would adopt a seemingly willful disregard for the composer. In either case, Robert Goldsand’s recordings demand attention and are worthy additions to any piano-recording collection.

Goldsand made few commercial recordings, yet surreptitiously-recorded tapes of Goldsand recitals (mid 1960s) exist and have been circulated among collectors. Beginning earlier (the mid-1950s), Goldsand arranged for many of his New York recitals to be professionally taped for his own retention. These remained in his possession until his death in 1991 and nearly 100 open-reel tapes in deplorable condition were donated to the International Piano Archives at the University of Maryland. A massive conservation project was expertly and painstakingly accomplished by Seth B. Winner Sound Studios, Inc. resulting in a new cache of recordings.

After auditioning more than two dozen Goldsand recitals from the preserved and digitized tapes, the performances presented here were chosen to represent him at the height of his powers. Notes are by IPAM Curator Donald Manildi. This three-CD Marston release marks the first–and long overdue–representation of Robert Goldsand s playing on compact disc. It offers performances from 1956 through 1977.