MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
Plain text for smartphones & printers


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Availability
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor Op.35 (1839) [22:39]
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Variations on a theme of Chopin, Op.22 (1902-03) [18:44]
Robert Goldsand (piano)
rec. 1950s
FORGOTTEN RECORDS FR726 [41:23]

My second encounter with Robert Goldsand via Forgotten Records’ restoration of his 1950s recordings proves no less impressive than that earlier disc of the Opp.10 and 25 Etudes [FR719]. Here he plays Chopin and Rachmaninoff in performances culled from two Musical Masterpieces Society LPs. As a result the total timing is, unfortunately, very short at 41 minutes, notwithstanding the quality of the playing or the relative rarity of the material.
 
Goldsand’s playing of Chopin’s sonata is passionate and dramatic, with powerful ritards, and a sense of constant engagement with the music. His tone is variegated and he brings wit and verve to the Scherzo, and a refined poetry to the B section of the funeral march which is shot through with a powerfully rounded tone. Here he produces an almost dreamlike effect. It renders the music as a kind of subconscious narrative – magnificently conceived, and played with real conviction. The coupling is Rachmaninov’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin, an appropriate piece of programming. This is, quite simply, one of the very best readings imaginable of the piece though one that is often overlooked in the welter of new releases and indeed those reissues from the past in performances by better-known pianists and far starrier labels than MMS. Refinement and elegant are transmitted via unfussy virtuosity, in playing that is full of colour and leads with inexorable logic to a triumphant conclusion.
 
Goldsand’s reissues lead one to wonder what kind of reputation he could have established had his recordings been made for more well-known international labels. As it is, his reputation amongst those who know his playing remains that of a revered teacher, as well as a special interpreter whose circumstances led to a rather narrow sphere of influence. First-class restorations such as this ensure that his name is, at least, kept before the public who will be enthusiastic to find other examples of his playing.
 
Jonathan Woolf