Australian pianist, Anna Goldsworthy began the study of piano with an Adelaide teacher, Eleonora Sivan. This charming disc is music emanating from Goldsworthy’s 2009 memoir, Piano Lessons. In it, she relives her childhood and development as a pianist, noting the significant moments and pieces that impacted on her.
“After I published Piano Lessons, I was overwhelmed by the correspondence I received,” writes Ms Goldsworthy. “Many people thanked me for introducing them to my teacher and recounted their own childhood music lessons, or inspirational mentors. But several people also alerted me to a shortcoming of the book: despite my best efforts, its pages remained silent. While they could hear the music of Mrs Sivan’s voice, they longed to match it to the pieces she described. It was this that spurred me to record this disc.”
For any piano student (and teacher), this is an ideal disc, capturing all the essential works and some more challenging pieces. It is a journey from the beginner to a master level of pianism.
Included are four Minuets from the Anna Magdalena Notebook (JS Bach), three excerpts from Dances of the Dolls – Lyrical Waltz, Romance, Hurdy-Gurdy (Shostakovich), The Little Shepherd (Debussy), first movement from Piano Sonata in B flat, KV 333 (Mozart), Impromtpu in A flat, Op 90, No 4 (Schubert), Rigoletto Paraphrase (Liszt), Toccata, Op 10 (Prokofiev), Prelude and Fugue in C sharp major, Bk 1 (JS Bach), first movement from the “Waldstein” Piano Sonata No 21 in C, Op 53 (Beethoven), the “Black Key” Etude in G Flat Major, Op 10, No 5, Funeral March from Piano Sonata in B flat minor, Op 35, and Nocturne in D flat, Op 27, No 2 (Chopin). The CD booklet has extracts from her book listed against every piece, as well as useful historical notes.
The playing has great warmth, charm, clarity and beauty. It would be a great disc to give as a gift or prize to your piano students. But it is more than that, it is a personal story of one Australia’s finest pianists. Ms Goldsworthy currently teaches at the University of Melbourne and is Artistic Director of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival.