Robert Goldsand plays Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit (live in 1956)

Austrian-born pianist Robert Goldsand’s live performance of Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, from a January 24, 1956 New York recital. A student of Liszt’s pupil Moriz Rosenthal, Goldsand was better known for his readings of the Viennese classics and the Romantic repertoire, but he did venture into modern music as well, playing Ravel, Prokofiev, and Barber, among others. This live recording of Gaspard de la nuit has never been released, and despite a few minor inaccuracies it is a reading of tremendous power and sensitivity. Goldsand’s complete command of pianistic technique and his musical inclinations fuse to create a performance that is at once majestic and refined, with marvellous tonal colours, superb dynamic control, and great clarity of texture.