Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Marche slave, Op 31 (arr. Hanke) [11:06]
Potpourri on Themes from The Voyevoda (arr. Tchaikovsky) [13:51]
Theme and Variations from Orchestral Suite No 3 (arr. Lippold and Goldstone)
[19:04]
Serenade for Strings, Op 48 (arr. Lippold and Goldstone) [29:00]
Anthony Goldstone ( piano)
rec. 2012, St John the Baptist Church, Alkborough, North Lincolnshire, England
DIVINE ART DDA25093 [63:12]
Anthony Goldstone is unofficially something like the U.K. professor emeritus
of piano. After a successful concert career which included a letter of thanks
and praise from Benjamin Britten himself, Goldstone has settled in to spend
the past few years arranging, transcribing, completing, discovering and otherwise
generating new works for the piano repertoire, then recording them for the
Divine Art label. One can hear his arrangements in ‘The
Piano at the Ballet’, an homage to gypsy
music, and world premieres of numerous works of the Russian romantics.
Here he presents arrangements of Tchaikovsky, both familiar works (Marche
slave, Serenade for Strings) and perhaps somewhat less so: the
finale of the third orchestral suite, a ‘Potpourri’ on themes
from The Voyevoda. It’s a pleasant program but probably only
of interest to the serious Tchaikovsky fan. I am one of those sad people who
don’t much like the Marche slave, and “naked” in
a piano transcription it doesn’t grow any warmer, but the virtuosity
required is considerable and Goldstone has all of it. The transcriber, someone
named Hanke, is a bit of a mystery, and even Goldstone’s impressive
detective work couldn’t crack the case. Tchaikovsky himself arranged
the Potpourri on themes from his opera The Voyevoda, and published
it under a pseudonym. Goldstone has cleared the composer of responsibility
for the piano Marche. The pen name was a good idea in this case; the
potpourri is structurally just that, jumping from tune to tune with little
order, though it all sounds very pretty.
The two transcriptions by Anthony Goldstone himself with Max Lippold are the
most successful. The first is of the variations from Orchestral Suite No
3, and although one can miss certain orchestral colors, like the cor anglais
solo, the piano version is surprisingly effective, and definitely a great
pleasure to hear. Goldstone’s fingers can really fly at moments like
the incursion of the ‘Dies irae’ tune. The Serenade for Strings
is the CD’s highlight for me: it’s one of my favorite works, and
the transcription by Goldstone and Lippold is both exceptionally good and
blessed with its own witty little touches. I approached with trepidation,
because a piano’s sustaining power has nothing on the polish of orchestral
strings, but the transcribers know this and have accounted for it, and the
playing here transcends all such qualms. It’s indeed an extremely good
performance, the waltz a delight and the trickiest bits to make work on a
piano - the introduction and élégie - are handled beautifully.
Curious Tchaikovsky fans should therefore check this out. Aficionados and
connoisseurs will enjoy a great deal, especially thanks to Goldstone’s
sympathetic pianism and his ability to deploy considerable virtuosity when
necessary. He would be even better-flattered by more state-of-the-art sound;
this is a bit glassy, and so closely miked that the church acoustic sounds
more like a sitting room. Still, it’s not something that will impair
your enjoyment. Volume 2 will contain excerpts from the three ballets; as
a previous
recording has hinted, these pieces have potential on the piano. I very
much look forward to hearing Goldstone take them on.
Brian Reinhart
For Tchaikovsky aficionados, a real treat; for others, maybe a bit off the
path.