Harris Goldsmith (November 23, 1935 – April 2, 2014 in New York City)
was an American
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
,
music teacher
Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...
and classical
music critic
'' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
.
Biography
Born in New York City, Goldsmith's family moved to
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
for a year in 1938, to aid European Jews seeking to escape antisemitic persecution.
Goldsmith studied at the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...
under
Robert Goldsand.
He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...
,
where he studied with
Robert Goldsand as a piano student.
His early musical influences included conductors
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
and
Guido Cantelli
Guido Cantelli (; 27 April 192024 November 1956) was an Italian orchestral conductor. Toscanini elected him his "spiritual heir" since the beginnings of his career. He was named Music Director of La Scala, Milan in November 1956, but his promis ...
, and he was deeply affected by Cantelli's death in 1956.
Goldsmith, known among his peers as an opinionated musician, was recommended by one of his instructors to become a music critic. Goldsmith began writing music criticism as a record reviewer for ''
High Fidelity
High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...
'' in 1960,
[Harris Goldsmith,]
Young Artists: The Thrill of Discovery
''MusicalAmerica'' (2004). where he became an influential voice during the "heyday of the classical
LP".
His friends claimed that he could remember "every note of music he's ever heard".
[ In a 2013 interview with New York City culture critic ]Sara Fishko
Sara Fishko is an American broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker known for her coverage of art, music, culture and media.
Career
From 1999 to 2021, she was the creator and host of Fishko Files on WNYC, producing hundreds of short-form ...
, he recalled a performance by Toscanini 60 years earlier: "The one that really blew me away is the '' Eroica'' he did on December 6, 1953, because I already was well familiar with the piece from his 1949 recording".[ While Goldsmith could be effusive over performances, he became well known early in his criticism career for his barbed reviews. Remembering a review of Chopin preludes performed by ]Alexander Brailowsky
Alexander Brailowsky (16 February 1896 – 25 April 1976) was a Russian and French pianist who specialised in the works of Frédéric Chopin. He was a leading concert pianist in the years between the two World Wars.
Early life
Brailowsky was bor ...
, he said, "I really roasted it... I said, 'Alexander Brailowsky indulges in cliches and vagaries of taste. His performance is grotesque, fragmentary and clumsy.'"[ He went on to write for ''High Fidelity''s successor publication, '']Musical America
''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online magazine, online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey.
...
'', as well as contributing to ''Opus
Opus (: opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera ...
'', the ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative
daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'', ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and New York Concert Review from 1993-2014 (nyconcertreview.com). He also provided liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards.
Origin
Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
for many re-releases of classical music recordings, and organized a 12 disc set recordings by Guido Cantelli, which he annotated. He shared a 1995 Grammy Award for Best Historical Album
The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979 and recognizes achievements in audio restoration. Since this category's creation, the award had several minor name changes:
*In 1979 the award was known as Best Historical R ...
for his liner notes accompanying ''The Heifetz Collection''.
Goldsmith played his debut piano performance in April 1965 at New York City's Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
. He made a number of recordings for various record labels in the 1970s, including a collection of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
sonata
In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...
s, and other releases of works by Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
, Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
and Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
.
Goldsmith was also a music teacher himself. He was a visiting professor at Binghamton University
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...
, gave classes at the Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...
, and coached students at the Yale Summer School of Music. He was a professor of music literature and chamber music at Mannes College
The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a music conservatory in T ...
from 1994 until his death.[ Students he has worked with include noted pianists ]Cecile Licad
Cecile Buencamino Licad (born 11 May 1961) is a Filipina classical pianist. She was born in Manila.
Awards
* In 1981 Licad received the Leventritt Competition Gold Medal.
* Her recording of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Saint-Saëns' Piano C ...
and Jenny Lin
Jenny Lin is a Taiwanese-born American pianist.
Biography
She was born in Taiwan, and raised in Austria and the United States. She began her piano studies at the age of 4. At age 10, she was accepted into the Hochschule für Musik in Vienn ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, Harris
1935 births
2014 deaths
Musicians from New York City
Manhattan School of Music alumni