San Francisco Classical Voice

The Op. 34 pieces turned out to be very effective, well written and quite absorbing. Although not terribly individual, they nevertheless continued combinations of traditional European forms with modal elements of the Near East. The opening Pastorale hinted at Bartók's Bulgarian dance studies, the Intermezzo could pass for Bloch, the Capriccio for late Debussy, etc. (There were also a lyrical Canzonetta and a hammering Toccata, a la Prokofiev.) Ben-Haim belongs to that large group of worthy 20th-century composers whom time unjustly neglects — Szymanowski, Malipiero, Miaskovsky, Piston, Roussel, and so on and on. Goldstein played these pieces sympathetically, and, indeed, has recorded them, along with other Ben-Haim piano works.

The Bach and Chopin performances, though, were poor in concept and way off-base as regards style. Anyone can learn the mechanics of making music, but there are also elements of playing music which can't be taught. Things such as phrasing, the sense of architecture (and its sibling, rubato) have to be sensed. Those largely depend on the intuitive moment. They cannot be explained or calculated.

Goldstein's approach to Bach was highly romantic, with lots of swooning phrases and exaggerated dynamic shifts. Those flaws were underlined by heavy pedaling, which smeared the lines. These are, after all, dance movements, not Rachmaninoff parodies of baroque music. Unless, of course, Bach is played that way, which is what Goldstein was doing.

Alas, the Chopin pieces fared worse. They sounded less like Mazurkas than like Viennese waltzes for some happy hour. Goldstein evidently hasn't been taught what a Mazurka is, and so her performances were suffused with the ultra-poetic colors of Chopin's most experimental works. That many other pianists fall into the same trap doesn't render the results any more palatable. The accents and pulse were all in the wrong places, and the momentum constantly frustrated by slimy rubato laid on with a trowel. The architecture was so distorted that the music lost all sense of direction.

By contrast, the large, virtuoso Brahms Variations made for the finest performance of the recital. Goldstein played them with remarkable note-perfect accuracy, which can not be over-praised. I have heard a number of specialist virtuosos achieve less. She sometimes overpowered loud passages, slam-banging the keyboard during climaxes or neglecting the charm factor in Brahms' music-box episodes. But on the whole, the performance was convincing and enjoyable for its flashy approach.

The audience cheered everything to the echo, which struck me as a bit odd. But that's well and good for the pianist's sake. Goldstein began a Chopin Nocturne as encore, but after only a little of it, the prospect of more sea-sick Chopin held no appeal for me.