Boris Goldstein: Violin Recital - MK D 08289-08290(a) - rare

$

225

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This truly beautiful and extraordinarily elusive LP – with a rare art cover jacket – from MK · Mezhdurodnaya Kniga (D 08289-08290(a), thick Soviet pressing, blue/silver MK label, mono) features legendary violinist Boris Goldstein in a mesmerizing recital with pianist Ella Selkina.

Their exact program is as follows:

Side 1

George Frideric Handel (arr. Carl Flesch): “Gebet” (“Prayer”), from the Te Deum in A Major HWV 282

Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major Op. 24 “Spring”

Side 2

Alexander Scriabin (arr. Boris Goldstein): Nocturne in F-sharp minor Op. 5 No. 1

Sergei Prokofiev (arr. Jascha Heifetz): Gavotte, No. 3 from 4 Pieces for Piano Op. 32

Claude Debussy (arr. Jascha Heifetz): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune  

George Gershwin (arr. Jascha Heifetz): “My man’s gone now”, from Porgy and Bess

George Gershwin (arr. Jascha Heifetz): “It ain’t necessarily so”, from Porgy and Bess

Pancho Vladigerov: Hora Staccato

The Handel/Flesch is a real find – it shares the same austere beauty and depths heard in Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin and in Beethoven’s Late String Quartets. But one senses an enormous personality and great imagination behind all of performances heard here – this is exalted violin playing by any measure and all those who treasure the art of the violin will find much to admire here – a wonderful violinist and a wonderful recital.

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At Wikipedia, one can find the following brief biography of Goldstein:

“Boris Goldstein (Busya Goldshtein) (25 of December 1922, Odessa - 8 of November 1987, Hanover, Germany) was one of the brightest stars of violin. A fantastically talented Soviet violinist whose music career was greatly hindered by the political situation in the USSR at that time. As a young prodigy, he started violin studies in Odessa with the eminent pedagogue, Pyotr Stolyarsky. As a teenager, Boris Goldstein, was singled out by Heifetz as being USSR's most brilliant violin talent.

“He won the fourth prize of the 1935 Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw; Ginette Neveu from France came first, David Oistrakh second, and Josef Hassid from Poland received the honorary diploma.

“In 1937, at one of the most prestigious international competitions of its time, the International Ysaye Competition, Stolyarsky students caused a sensation. Top prizes were garnered by David Oistrakh, Boris Goldshtein (Goldstein), Yelizaveta Gilels and Mikhail Fikhtengoltz. The Soviet Politburo was indeed riding the propaganda machine to its fullest. "The results of the sessions created a profound impression: the Soviet school, with an assurance that bordered on arrogance, carried off all the prizes from the first down. The latter was awarded without the slightest discussion to the great David Oistrakh. Everyone else had to be content with crumbs; the Belgian violin school, though still a source of pride, failed, and its absence at the final was much commented on; Arthur Grumiaux and Carlo Van Neste, both young and inexperienced, were not able to convince the jury." [1]

“Later he was forced to emigrate from Russia.....arriving in Germany, he taught and nurtured many budding musicians (but his solo career never recovered).

“The composer Mikhail Goldstein was his brother. Notable students of Boris Goldstein include Zakhar Bron and Alexander Skwortsow.”

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And at Melodiya’s website, one can find another biography, again brief, of Goldstein:

“Boris Emmanuilovich Goldstein was born in Odessa in 1922. As was customary at that time in the families of Odessa intellectuals, from the age of four he was given music lessons. Boris Goldstein was taught in the violin class of the legendary teacher Pyotr Solomonovich Stolyarsky, who had brought up a brilliant pleiad of musicians, the most notable of which was David Oistrakh. Six months after beginning his studies, little Busya (as he was called in his family) had already

performed in public with a small concert program.

“The name of the nine-year-old violinist becomes well-known to the broad public in the USSR after his performance of Mendelssohn’s Concerto together with the Moscow Radio Orchestra, conducted by N. Anosov. At the age of 11 Busya took part in the First All-Union Violinists’ Competition. Due to his young age he performed separately from the competition, but he played so well that he was awarded a special prize.

“In March 1935 the First Henryk Wieniawski International Competition took place in Warsaw. From the Soviet Union two musicians were sent – the 27-year-old David Oistrakh and the 13-year-old Busya Goldstein. In 1937 Boris Goldstein went to Brussels along with the Soviet delegation, for participation in the First Eugene Ysaye – the most representative musical competition of the 20th century in the make-up of its jury – where he won Fourth Prize.

“In the Soviet Union he was awarded with the Order of “Mark of Honor” for his “outstanding achievements in the sphere of musical art.” The fact that Busya was “the youngest musician, holder of an order” was consistently emphasized by Soviet reference editions. From that time, from the late 1930s he had been recorded on gramophone records. However, the subsequent fate of the musician was not so successful, and this did not happen for reasons of artistry.

“In 1974 Goldstein was able to leave the USSR, and the musician settled in Hannover, West Germany. There Boris Emannuilovich won an open competition and took the position of a professor of the Würzburg Music Academy.”

CONDITION – PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the jacket is EXCELLENT. There is a minor bend to the lower-right corner, as well as the number “27” written and circled on the front panel. There is also minor bumping at the other corners. However, there are no seamsplits or other defects, and the album remains solid, bright, and very striking in appearance – overall, an excellent collector's copy.

The condition of the LP itself is EXCELLENT (Side 1) / VERY GOOD (Side 2). On Side 2 there is a bit of surface noise for the first 3 tracks and then it clears up and the remaining 3 tracks merit an “excellent” rating. On Side 1, though the surfaces are not CD silent, playback remains quite superb and this can be graded “excellent” throughout. Those wanting flawless or near-MINT surfaces are kindly advised to look elsewhere – please do not buy this LP if you cannot live with the VG surfaces on Side 2. Overall, this rates as a very good to excellent collector's copy.