Maria Curcio died aged 89 in March 2009, and was one of the most influential and sought-after piano teachers of the second half of the 20th century. A considerable number of distinguished artists studied with her - among them Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Martha Argerich, Myung-Whun Chung, Barry Douglas, José Feghali, Leon Fleisher, Peter Frankl, Claude Frank, Anthony Goldstone, Ian Hobson, Terence Judd, Radu Lupu, Rafael Orozco, Alfredo Perl, Hugh Tinney, Geoffrey Tozer and Mitsuko Uchida.

The solo piano works in this programme are connected in various ways with Maria Curcio. Of the three Lieder (she cherished an enduring love of the genre), two contain “Maria” in the title. She had deep insight into the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin (as well as that of Schubert and Schumann), and Anthony Goldstone was fortunate to study the present works by those three composers with her. A devil-may-care Neapolitan tarantella and a soulful Brazilian lament represent both her lineage and her temperament. Rare works by her mentors Casella and Schnabel make an appearance, and finally “Widmung” symbolises her dedication and passion.

Described by The New York Times as “a man whose nature was designed with pianos in mind”, Anthony Goldstone is one of Britain’s most respected pianists. A sixth-generation pupil of Beethoven through his great teacher Maria Curcio, to whom this recording is dedicated, Anthony Goldstone was born in Liverpool. He studied with Derrick Wyndham at the Royal Manchester College of Music (which later honoured him with a Fellowship), and later with Curcio in London.

He has enjoyed a career encompassing six continents, the Last Night of the Proms (after which Benjamin Britten wrote to him, “Thank you most sincerely for that brilliant performance of my Diversions. I wish I could have been at the Royal Albert Hall to join in the cheers”), very many broadcasts and seventy CDs (including the BBC issue of his London Promenade Concert performance of Beethoven’s fourth Piano Concerto). He has an adventurous approach to repertoire and has been praised by Vienna’s Die Presse for “his astonishingly profound spiritual penetration”.

Contents:
- Ave Maria (Ellens Dritte Gesang), S.558, No.12 (Schubert, arr. Liszt)
- La Danza (Tarantella Napolitana), S.424, No.9 (Rossini, arr. Liszt)
- Alma Brasileira - Choro No.5 (Villa-Lobos)
- Variations on a Chaconne, Op.3 (Casella)
- Waltzer Op.15, No.3 (Schnabel) - première recording
- Rondo in A minor, K.511 (Mozart)
- Fantasie, Op.77 (Beethoven)
- Polonaise in F sharp minor “Tragic”, Op.44 (Chopin)
- Maria Wiegenlied Op.76, No.52 (Reger) – in Reger’s transcription
- Widmung, Op.25, No.1 (Schumann arr. Liszt)
Anthony Goldstone (piano)

- Concert Aria “Ch’io mi scordi di te? Non temer, amato bene”, K.505 (Mozart)
Maria Curcio (piano), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Otto Klemperer
Recorded “live” in Amsterdam in 1957 (only known surviving recording by Curcio)