Autographed 8” x 10” photograph of the British concert pianist.
Goodson (1872-1958) Studied with Oscar Beringer at the Royal Academy of Music and then went to Vienna at the suggestion of Paderewski, where she spent four years, became a favorite pupil of the legendary piano pedagogue Theodor Leschetiszky. Apparently while studying with Leschetiszky, she allowed her hands to freeze while studying with him and spent a year rehabilitating them from rheumatism. He used to use the story as an example for other pianists in his studio. When she left Vienna in 1896, she joined with a series of violinists, Ysaÿe, Powell and Kubelik and toured with them as an accompanist in addition to her recitals and performances with orchestras. She made her London debut in 1897, Berlin debut in 1903, where she became friendly with Joachim, Bruch and Scharwenka, the latter arranged a command recital before the Kaiser and Kaiserin. 1905 was also an important year, where she first played for Artur Nikisch and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Nikisch thoroughly impressed took her under his wing and arranged for further recitals and performances with orchestra in Hamburg and Frankfort. He wrote in her autograph book, Miss Goodson played wonderfully, it was an unequivocal delight. He also arranged for her American debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Karl Muck in January, 1907 playing the Grieg Piano Concerto. Made 7 tours of the United States between 1907 and 1921, including 9 performances at Carnegie Hall, three of which were recitals. She made 9 performances with the Boston Symphony through 1921. Her performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing Lyapunov’s 2nd Piano Concert in February 1920 brought the house down. We found her as far afield as Portland Oregon, Hartford, Philadelphia, St. Louis, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Los Angles and San Francisco. While she was steeped in the Romantic Repertory, she did perform more modern works, her husband Arthur Hinton’s Piano Concerto she created in 1905, she also performed the Saint-Saëns 2nd Piano Concerto, the Delius Piano Concerto. In recital, she would play a wide variety from Scarlatti, Pergolesi and Bach, to Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Hinton, Whiting and MacDowell. In England, she was a great favorite, playing concerts and with orchestra throughout the Country. A favorite of Hans Richter and Henry Wood, she played at Wood’s final Proms concert in 1933. She played many recitals for War charities and stopped playing in public in 1941 when her home was destroyed in the Blitz and her husband died. She resumed playing in 1944 and more seriously in 1946 after the War. There is apparently film of her playing in concert on the BBC. Goodson also taught in America and London. She imparted Leschetiszky’s principals in her teaching and Sir Clifford Curzon and Michal Hambourg were her two most prominent pupils.
Our friend Fritz Curzon, the pianist’s son very vividly remembers going to Goodson’s apartment as a child. He describes it as dark and Victorian. He also informs us that later in her career when she was preparing for a concert, Sir Clifford would often play the orchestral part while she was rehearsing!